The Chosen
by Split Infinitive
Summary: It's a post-Twilight Princess world. There's a young girl named Zelda. There's a boy called Link. Except neither are the ones you're expecting...
1. A Plea in the Dark

**1 – A Plea in the Dark**

There were two of them, clad in green and soaking wet, raindrops beating out a metallic song against their steel-tipped spears. They stood guard in front of a squat, rock structure the colour of ash. Mud squelched under their boots. A flickering torch, ensconced in glass, hung from the stone door that marked the building's sole entrance.

Furtive glances flew from one of the guard's eyes, straight onto that self-same door.

"Eli," said the other guard. "You look spooked."

"I'm not spooked, Jos."

"You're spooked," Jos insisted. "You been listening to Old Sloat's tales again, haven't yeh?"

"Old Sloat knows stuff." Eli couldn't keep the defensive sting from his voice. "He's _seen_ stuff."

Jos snorted. "L-L-L-Like what?"

Eli took a breath. He knew Jos would mock him rotten if he kept at it, just as he was mocking Sloat's stammer right now. But Eli knew too that his friend wouldn't shut up until he spilled it all out.

"The ghost," Eli said, not meeting Jos's eyes. "The Hero's Ghost."

Again Jos snorted. "Oh yeah. A decade in the dirt, and then the Hero's come to haunt us for revenge." He jutted a thumb back toward the door. "Take a peek, then. Rest your mind."

Eli ignored him. "It's not just Old Sloat," he said, voice quiet and grim. "Others have seen it, too."

Jos barked a quick laugh as he shook his head. He blinked water from his rain-stung eyes.

Lightning split the night sky. Eli stiffened. His eyes narrowed, searching.

"What?" said Jos. His voice had lost its mocking edge.

Eli peered into the dark. Lightning flashed again, revealing the narrow path that led up the hill. They both saw it now. A small, slender shadow moving their way.

Moving _quickly._

Spear-tips swung down through the curtain of rain to point directly at the newcomer. "Halt!" barked Jos.

The figure stepped into the pale, blurry torchlight and came to a stop. Eli swallowed, then relaxed. It was just a girl, young and cloaked, with green eyes and strawberry-blonde hair peeking out from under her sodden hood.

She seemed oddly familiar.

 _A peasant girl, maybe?_ he mused. _Plenty down in Kakariko. Like Nina._ A wry nostalgia glowed in his heart. _I should know._

The thought passed when he took a closer look at her. This girl couldn't be more than eleven years old.

Jos spoke. "What do you want?" he growled, prodding the air with his spear. "You've no business here."

"Refuge," the girl replied. Her eyes, cool and clear, darted from one man to the other. "If I may."

A dark weight wreathed itself around Eli's heart. _She don't sound like no peasant…_

"No one goes in here without the King's permission," Jos replied. Eli noticed the girl wince at the mention of the King. His unease deepened.

Jos, oblivious, went on. "Who are you, girl? What's your name?"

Again she looked from one man to the other. Eli saw the muscles in her neck stiffen. Instinct made him tighten his grip around the shaft of his spear.

"My name," she said, low and soft, "is Zelda."

Eli grit his teeth. His heart raced. Jos, on the other hand, threw back his head and laughed.

"Zelda?" he cried. " _Princess_ Zelda? Princess Zelda is _dead_."

Jos's grip slackened on his spear in that moment of mirth – and the young girl moved. A kick sent his spear spinning out his hands. The girl lunged in, the torchlight catching the glint of silver in her fist. The silver ran red in an instant, and Jos dropped gurgling to his knees.

A cry flew from Eli's lips. He moved in. And so did the girl. Her dagger now free, she spun on one heel and slashed, her arm curving up toward him.

Eli grinned. _Missed! No little girl is going to -_

And then he felt it. The burn in his throat. The air whistling from his fresh wound. His spear clattered to the ground. Eli felt himself swoon.

 _I never told Nina I -_

Darkness followed, swift, smothering and sweet.

* * *

Zelda watched the second guard topple over, her eyes sad within her impassive face. The rainwater washed her dagger clean. Blood seeped into the mud below.

Her weapon hand began to tremble. Then her chest heaved, her body overcome with a sudden wave of the shakes.

She hadn't wanted it to come to this. She'd expected the tomb to be unguarded, expected the people to keep away purely out of superstitious dread. Zelda breathed in the cool, rain-cleansed air. Her thudding heart began to slow.

The moment of weakness passed, Zelda looked up at the stone door. This was why she was here. To learn. To not be so weak anymore.

Teeth grit and face flushed, she pushed on the door. It rumbled slowly open.

Catching her breath, Zelda stepped into the building's single room. Her mouth dried. Torches burned in sconces, shedding a dance of light upon two, plain stone sarcophagi. The newfound warmth tingled Zelda's skin. Her eyes fell on the grave closest to her. It was unmarked, but she knew all too well who lay beneath.

Princess Zelda, deposed monarch of Hyrule.

"Mother."

A mother she could barely remember. That's more than she could say about her father – Zelda had no idea who _he_ had been.

She took another look at the princess's resting place. Emptiness draped her heart.

With a deep breath, her boots leaving wet, dark trails on the stone floor, she moved over to the next tomb. The one she'd come for.

A decade ago, a prince from a neighbouring land had ventured to Hyrule to ask Princess Zelda for her hand in marriage. She'd refused. Spurned, the man had turned his armies toward Hyrule Castle, pillaging and burning everything in his path.

There'd been only one who had been able to stand in the prince's way. The Hero of Twilight, the Ordonite who had once helped defeat Zant of the Twilight Realm.

He'd fought the prince to the bitterest end, but finally he had fallen, and Princess Zelda had soon followed. The prince had been impressed with the Hero's spirit, though. Believing the Hero to be blessed, he'd carried the dead man's body on a silk-covered bier and placed it ahead of his armies. With such a one leading his forces – even in death – the prince felt he could never be beaten.

He'd been right. Hyrule fell. The prince became king –just the _King._ No one in Hyrule would dare say his real name, and Zelda the daughter of Zelda had been too young to remember when it had been freely spoken.

No one dared come here to the tomb, either, this final resting place for both the princess and her Hero. Not that too many people knew who lay here.

Zelda knew. She knew, too, of the recent rumours, of the furtive glimpses of the Hero, elusive and ethereal, too many sightings now to be ignored. The problem, though, lay in Zelda's young age. She had no idea what the Hero looked like. She figured if his spirit were to turn up, it would be here at his grave.

Muffled thunder rolled in the sky outside. Rain hummed against the rock walls. Tentative at first, then with more conviction, Zelda placed a hand to the Hero's tomb. The cold seeped into her palm.

Zelda leaned in. "I want to learn," she whispered. "Teach me. Teach me to be a Hero." Thunder rumbled. The torches, all at once, sputtered into sudden darkness. "Please."

Head bowed, Zelda the daughter of Zelda stayed there most of the night, waiting, waiting for a reply.

It never came.

* * *

The next morning found Zelda hunched over a table in a tavern, her legs dangling as she sat on a chair far too large for her. She'd had the usual question from the innkeeper - 'Where's your parents, lass?' – but a gold coin had swiftly ended any further conversation. Not that people asked too many questions in the Age of the King anyway.

Zelda's cheeks puffed out as let free a deep breath. It didn't lift the heaviness off of her heart. The Hero hadn't come. The Chosen One hadn't appeared. She'd been so _sure_ he would as well.

 _All that trouble. Those two guards I had to…had to…_

A shiver ran down the length of her body, tip to toe. She wondered if the two men had seen how scared she'd been. Probably. That's why that one had laughed. Zelda's leg still ached from kicking the spear out of his hand. Another reminder of how little skill she possessed.

That's why she'd come to a simple conclusion: if she couldn't be the Hero, she'd ride the coattails of one who was. After all, the Divine had chosen the Chosen One, right? It would probably look a little kindly on the one that befriended him, yes?

It made sense to her, anyway.

 _Except he hadn't come…_

The tavern door opened. Sunlight spilled inside, accompanied by the sound of stamping boots. Dried leaves settled inside the lip of the doorway. Zelda looked up and her heart kicked. The two men that entered wore green over glinting armour. They were King's men.

The chorus of conversation in the tavern died. Eyes wary, the innkeeper looked up at the newcomers. "Anything I can get you, gents?"

Armour clinked as one of the soldiers – the red crest on his green livery marking him as the leader – stepped forward. Blue eyes shone from a surprisingly soft face. Blond hair sat atop his head.

"Eli. Jos," he said. "Regulars here, right?"

"Aye," said the innkeeper. He gave the soldier a quick look-over. "Captain Kaltern, ain't it?"

The soldier nodded.

"Well, your boys, they keep me in coin well."

"Your maids, too!" someone shouted. Laughter rippled in response. The innkeeper scowled.

Kaltern waited for silence. When it came, he let it stretch, his face grim. "They're dead," he said at last. "I need to know who did it."

Zelda looked away. Maybe a little too quickly. She hoped not.

She stared at the grooves and runnels in the wooden table top in front of her. Her gaze throbbed in time with her heart. When the man spoke again, she jumped and bit down on her lower lip to stifle a squeak.

"How about you?"

Zelda snapped her head up – then felt her bunched muscles relax. Kaltern wasn't even looking at her. She turned to see who it was that had stolen the captain's attention.

"I don't know anything," a soft, yet gravelly voice said. "L-leave me be."

It was a man, of medium build, leaning against the tavern's back wall. Age lined his face, silver had overtaken his hair. A black cloak enwrapped him.

In a few long strides, Captain Kaltern reached him. "Old Sloat," he said. "You're usually full of tall tales. What's the matter…? The muse left you…?"

"No tales." Sloat shook his head. "Just w-wonder."

Kaltern raised an eyebrow. "At...?"

Old Sloat shrugged. "Don't recall this much fuss when Jay died in the vill-"

"I'm talking about something important."

"So am-m I!"

A sudden, swift fist sent the elder man to the floor. A groan flew from his lips. Zelda flinched. No one in the room moved.

"Don't think I don't know," said the captain. "The stories you tell. Trying to scare my men. You know how superstitious they get."

Old Sloat sat slumped, head bowed, for just a moment, then, palms pressed against the wooden floor, he pushed himself slowly back to his feet. His eyes met Kaltern's, held head high.

That affront sparked a second punch – this time to the stomach – and then an elbow to the back of the elder man's neck. He fell to his knees, chest heaving.

"Hey," said the innkeeper softly. "That's enough now, Captain."

The soldier glared down at Old Sloat. His companion tugged at his sleeve. "Yeah, boss," he said. "Let's go."

Zelda watched, eyes widening as the elder man stirred, and again made the deliberate climb back upright. He raised his chin again, gaze narrowed in on his attacker.

"You," Old Sloat whispered. "You don't put your hands on me."

A whisper, true, but his voice carried the crack of a whip. Zelda even saw Captain Kaltern swallow.

"One day you'll slip, old man," the soldier said. "And then you'll be rotting in a cell like you deserve."

Snatching his sleeve free from his sub-ordinate's grasp, Kaltern gave the tavern a slow sweep with his eyes. "Any information," he said. "You know where to find us."

And with that he led his companion out, the door slamming shut behind them.

Zelda stared blinking at the door. Thoughts tumbled in her mind. What had she just seen? The whole scene struck her in a way that she couldn't quite put into words.

 _Old Sloat,_ she mused. _I know that name. He tells stories. Stories of... the Hero's Ghost!_

She spun her head around – only to find that Old Sloat had already gone.

 _How...?_

Zelda took a look around. Everyone had returned to their food, drink and conversations. No one seemed the slightest bit concerned that Sloat had vanished.

Zelda slipped out of her chair, and walked over to where the elder man had last stood. A glint caught her eye. There _was_ something there. Something on the floor. Zelda crouched, and took the item into her hand.

Enclosed in a brass ring, Zelda found herself holding a small mirror.


	2. Needs Must

**2 - Needs Must**

The small copse stood at the very edge of the Kakariko Gorge. Zelda sat high up in the branches of a tree, trying to stay as still as the sun-dappled leaves around her. Her stomach growled. She kept her gaze stuck fast on crooked trail worn into the ground below.

 _Any minute now. Any minute..._

Her gut clenched in pain. Zelda's mind began to wander. How much could she get, she mused, for Old Sloat's mirror...? Worth trading it for a heel of bread, maybe...?

The rickety sound of wagon wheels broke her out of her reverie. Zelda tensed. _This is it._

The covered wagon wasn't alone. Six of the King's men - a trio on each flank - marched in time with the cart. A single horse pulled it bouncing along the trail, the driver sitting high on the wagon's solitary seat.

Zelda swung her legs. The thick branch under her shivered. Leaves, already shrivelled and weak, broke free to drift down on the breeze. She rocked back and forth, waiting, waiting for the moment when the wagon would trundle beneath...

 _Bullseye._

Zelda dropped, landing face-first on the canvas, the fabric rippling with a soft whoomph. Zelda waited. The sun warmed her back.

Boots marched, and the wagon rolled on. The soldiers hadn't even flinched.

 _As usual. Idiots._

The King transported his gold through Hyrule using his soldiers, his wagons and a myriad different paths. Zelda knew each and every one. The _only_ one who knew. Not that she ever picked the same trail twice. She wanted them to believe that the tear in the wagon's canvas had come about naturally. Also, she banked on them not re-counting the gold.

It's not like she took much, anyway. Just enough to get by. For a few weeks, at least. The knot in her stomach usually told her when.

Clutching the fabric with one hand as the juddering wagon swayed from side to side, Zelda used her other to reach down and flip up her dagger. She tore a jagged line - she didn't want to make it look too neat - down the length of the canvas, then slipped inside, landing on the wagon's wooden floor in a crouch.

A split-second told her she wasn't alone. She spied the gold, piled up all around - but this time the coins encircled a seated man, bare-chested and blindfolded, next to a small table while a woman in a scandalously short white tunic oiled and massaged his head.

The woman snapped her head up. "What?"

" _What?!"_ Zelda gaped in response.

The woman lunged, scooping a straight razor from the table. Zelda's dagger snaked up to meet it. Metal clashed, and a single spark burned in the air.

* * *

Dark clouds above mirrored Captain Kaltern's mood. His muscles ached. His eyes stung. And his heart - the soreness at the centre of his being struck him the most.

"I have not slept in three days," he announced to the huddled mass of Hylian peasants cowering before him and his men. "I would like to go home. I'm sure you would, too. So let's work together, shall we?" He let that hang before continuing. "I just need to know if anyone has any - _any -_ sense of a lead that will help me in my investigations?"

Three days of fruitless searching. Questions and denials had tumbled over and over, and Kaltern found himself no closer to discovering what had happened to Eli and Jos.

There weren't many villages here in Kakariko Gorge - the murderers couldn't have got any further than that - and this group of Hylians sat in a clearing in the middle of their excuse of a village represented the last lot.

 _Hylians._ Kaltern looked down in disgust. _I would never question our King, but sometimes I wonder why we ever left Calatia._

Fearful eyes gazed up at him. One of the dirty folk spoke. "We don't know nuffin, m'lud."

Kaltern sighed. "You don't know anything." He hated how they butchered their shared language. Worse, he'd noticed his men beginning to pick up on their vocal tics as well.

Unacceptable.

"It's true," the man spoke again, eyes darting with speed. "I swear. We weren't involved."

Kaltern replied with his best - and coldest - stare.

 _I really need to go. This is a waste. But not before a reminder is served._

The captain turned to the squadron of soldiers now accompanying him. He made a quick hand gesture, his palm slashing air.

His lieutenant bowed his head. "Are you going to do the honours, boss?"

"Sir," Kaltern hissed. "It's 'sir.' And, no." He swept his gaze over his disappointed-looking men. "I know you'd all like a show, but my skills would be wasted here." His hand fell to the hilt of his sword.

 _Not worthy of my blade. Not these Hylians. They wouldn't put up a fight._

A whisper of fear wash over the huddled peasants. It grew to a murmur when the clearing began to fill with the pop and hiss of torches being set alight.

Kaltern turned away. "You know what to do."

"I was thinking," said his lieutenant. "To lock them in their houses first. Less mess to deal with. Less noise."

Kaltern nodded. "I'll leave it in your capable hands." He brushed past his man and made to stride off.

"Bos -" said the other soldier. "I mean - sir. Where are _you_ going?"

"I," Captain Kaltern replied without bothering to look back, "am going home."

A finger of greasy black smoke smudged the sky above the village by the time he'd loaded his horse and set off.

* * *

And home he went.

Kaltern walked the bustling streets of the Royal City of Faron. This was the capital of Hyrule now, with its music and commerce, its architecture and cuisine. Tall, intricately patterned buildings encircled by spotlessly clean streets grasped for the heavens. His heart swelled with pride. Civilisation had finally arrived.

 _Or maybe not..._

A commotion ahead of him made him look up. "Thief!" someone cried - a constable by the looks of it. Face flushed, he chased a young boy who had a pouch clutched in his hand. Luckily for the officer, the boy's trajectory took him straight to Kaltern.

The captain stuck out a foot. The boy went flying, hitting the paved ground with a smack. Kaltern grabbed the urchin by his collar and waited as the puffing constable caught up. The boy writhed and scratched in his grasp.

"Officer," said Kaltern, pushing the boy into the constable's path.

"Thank y-" The constable's eyes widened when he saw Kaltern's red crest. He straightened his back and saluted. "Sir!"

The captain waved the formalities away. "Keep fighting the good fight."

Kaltern excused himself and took a winding path that left the noise of the inner city behind. He stopped in front of a small house. Smoke puffed from a chimney.

In contrast to the grand buildings in the heart of the city, this little house seemed sparse. It needed a new lick of point for one thing. Captain Kaltern grinned. _Now_ he was home.

He opened the door and all his aches and frustrations melted away when he heard the delighted squeal of a small girl.

"Papa!"

Grinning, he dropped to one knee and engulfed the child in a hug as she ran straight into his arms.

"Kitten!" he said. Kaltern breathed in her scent. Warmth rushed his heart. "Mya..."

Another voice, this one with an edge, spoke. "And where have _you_ been?"

"Uh oh," he whispered into Mya's ear. "I believe I'm in trouble."

His daughter giggled. Gently pushing her off of him, Kaltern slowly stood. "You go play."

Mya protested with a stamp of her foot. "Aww!"

"Go on," he insisted. Kaltern ruffled her blonde hair. "Scram, kitten. I'll come and tuck you in tonight."

"And sing me a song...?"

Kaltern wore his best long-suffering expression. "If I must."

"You must!" Mya giggled with joy and scampered off. Kaltern turned to address his wife.

"Darling."

"No," she replied. Her pinched eyes shone. "No excuses."

"Layle, it was bad."

"How bad?"

"Jos. Eli," he replied. "Dead. Murdered."

Her hand flew to her chest. "Murdered?" she gasped, aghast. "By Hylians?!"

Kaltern breathed in deep, then nodded.

Layle's blazed again. "I hate it here." Her hand slapped down hard on the table beside her. "Why did we come here? King D-"

"Shhh." The captain held up both palms in a placating gesture. Calatians thought of one another - no matter how lowly on the social pole - as family. They weren't like the primitive Hylians with their loose ties and even looser morals. Layle's heated reaction to soldiers she hardly knew didn't surprise him.

Face flushed, Layle began to pace, then stopped suddenly to look straight at him. "Tell me you caught them, Rynku. You did catch them, right...?"

"Not...yet," Kaltern admitted. It felt odd to hear his first name. All the more reason why he'd spent far too long with his men."I wanted to come home. I needed to see you. Both of you."

He'd pierced her armour. She wilted. Layle's lips tugged upward in a smile. She held out her arms. Within a few strides, he'd caught up to her. They stood enwrapped, lips locked for a long moment.

And then the front door rattled with a series of thuds.

Layle groaned. Kaltern's heart sank into a hot bed of repressed fury.

"Captain Kaltern!" a muffled voice called from outside. "Captain, you have a message! From the King!"

"How," whispered Layle, "did he even know you were back?"

Kaltern sighed. "Duty calls," he said with a sigh, their foreheads touching.

"Destiny," Layle replied, voice distant.

The captain favoured her with an odd look for that. Kaltern then made to move to the door - but Layle clutched him by the sleeve.

"Come back to us," she whispered.

"Always," he breathed back. His throat felt suddenly dry.

Captain Kaltern opened the door, accepted the messenger's mumbled apologies with typical Calatian grace, then took the scroll from his held out hand. The ruby shine of the King's wax seal glistened. Closing the door behind him with his heel, Kaltern broke the seal and unfurled the scroll. His eyes scanned the parchment.

"Well?" said Layle, her voice thick.

Kaltern licked his lips. "His Majesty demands that I call off the investigation," he said.

 _How had the King even known about that?_

"Why?"

"Rusl," he replied. "He's re-emerged."

"The rebel." It wasn't a question. Rusl and his vigilante Resistance were a well-known topic of conversation in the Royal City.

Kaltern nodded. "He's started an insurrection in Hyrule Castle Town. I'm to take the Shade and put it down."

Layle's face blanched. "The Shade..." she gasped. "The King means business."

Captain Kaltern's hand closed into a fist, crumpling the letter. "So do I."

* * *

Zelda's knees began to buckle. The woman, her stringy hair falling in front of her face, pushed down hard with her razor. Zelda's dagger trembled. True, her opponent had the smaller weapon, but Zelda had little chance against a fully-grown adult. Not unless she could use her speed.

"What," the blindfolded man in the chair cried. "What's going on?!"

The woman turned her head slightly - and Zelda slid her blade free, sprung past her foe, and reached the chair in an instant. One hand pulled the man's hair, and with the other she brought her dagger to the man's throat.

"Wh-what?" he squeaked, swallowing. His throat bobbed against the dagger's sharp edge.

Zelda noticed then that the man's arms were strapped to the chair. She didn't know bizarre game they were playing, but was thankful nonetheless.

The wagon rattled around them, and Zelda had to push down with her weight to keep her footing. Zelda and the woman locked gazes.

"You'll stop the cart." Zelda fought to keep the tremor from her voice. It didn't help that she had to get her words out through panting breaths. "You'll let me out. You won't follow. Not you. Not your soldiers."

The corner of the woman's mouth curled. "You're a child."

"Do it!"

Mirth fled from the woman's face. "No."

Zelda flinched. _Now what?_

Holes suddenly popped open in the wagon's canvas as thin slits flitted in, striking the wood within in a shimmer. Zelda's eyes widened.

 _Arrows!_

The woman saw, too. She spun on one heel. A shout cracked out - "Brigands!" And then the wagon lurched. Zelda felt herself flung to one side. Her head struck wood. Coins spilled in a metallic waterfall of gold. Fabric tore again as more arrows whistled through. The wagon toppled. Screams followed.

And darkness.

When Zelda awoke she found herself in a wet ditch, dirt smearing her threadbare brown tunic.

"That," she said out loud, "went well."

Her nose twitched from the scent of burning. She could hear the crackle of small fires already. Zelda scrambled up the side of the ditch and saw the blackened husk of the wagon. Bodies lay strewn across the ground. The woman she'd fought lay there, too, eyes staring sightlessly into the sky. Zelda stepped over to her, crouched, and gently closed her lids.

So. It turned out she _wasn't_ the only one who knew all the King's transport paths.

Most of the gold had gone. A few coins lay scattered, and Zelda gathered as many of these as she could.

The familiar sickly feeling whenever she held coin returned. After the fall of Hyrule Castle a decade ago, Zelda had been taken in by the Sisterhood of the Sheikah. They'd taught her the wonders of the Etherworld, the place where, after death, those who won divine favour by living like the Legendary Hero would go. So spellbinding had been their words that Zelda had felt the present world and all its darkness fade clear away.

Zelda had vowed to take the path of the Hero - the noble path. Survival, however, had dictated otherwise. The two never seemed to overlap. And survival was all she now had, especially after discovering what the Sisterhood really did to the children they took in. She'd fled their sanctuary, spilling a torch as she'd done so. The flames had leapt across their sacred scrolls and parchments.

The eight-year-old Zelda hadn't looked back in that panicked escape.

Stealing gold wasn't part of the noble path. Zelda trudged back to Kakariko - back home, to do what she always did as a balm for her soul. All the more reason why she wanted to find the Hero's Ghost - so he could take her by hand into the Etherworld no matter what she'd done.

Beggar's Alley sat just within Kakariko's main gates, a slum without shelter and shade where dirt and trash fought for space with the unfortunate.

Zelda approached the slum, her eyes searching. Most of the beggars were asleep - even when the sun was out, as though they had nothing better to do - limbs entwined and with just their clothes to keep them from the elements.

Her heart skipped and she stopped. She'd thought she'd just spied something familiar. Was that Old Sloat lying way over there...?

She'd wanted to find him, to ask about the other day in the tavern.

 _And about the Hero._

But there were too many bodies in the way, and her nose wrinkled at the smell. Besides, if that lump _was_ him, he seemed to be snoring away. She could hear it even from this distance.

Finally, Zelda spotted a man that hadn't yet succumbed to the oblivion of sleep. He sat, an overturned cap at his feet. Zelda pulled one of the gold coins free, and casually dropped it in.

It was better than nothing. The beggars of Kakariko paid her little attention anyway, so no one would raise a fuss whenever one of them found gold. She liked it that way. She didn't want any thanks. They didn't offer any.

Usually.

"Little girl."

Zelda stopped short. A chill prickled her skin. Slowly, she turned to face the beggar. He had the coin, rolling it between his dirty fingers. In and out the gold glinted as it slid. Zelda felt her heart squeeze. Her eyes darted, trying to see if anyone else had spotted the two of them.

Nothing but a carpet of snoring, scratching and sniffing humanity met her eyes.

Zelda turned her attention back to the beggar. She couldn't see his face from the thick layer of rags he had wrapped around it. His eyes peeked out, though. They were a young man's eyes, but they held a faraway look. And his voice - his voice rang clear. He nodded in thanks.

A long-held breath hissed free from Zelda's lips. She just shrugged, eager to be away, and moved to leave when the man noisily cleared his throat.

She paused, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

"Hold fast," he said in a halting voice.

Zelda frowned. "What?"

"To patience," the beggar man said. "Hold fast to patience."

And then the gold coin vanished into the folds of his rags.


	3. The Boy in the Bloodstained Cloak

**3 – The Boy in the Bloodstained Cloak**

The War Wagon rolled slowly toward Hyrule Castle Town. Reinforced leather treads enclosed huge wheels that shattered rock and crushed logs underfoot. Inside, Captain Kaltern sat at a table, the quill in his ink-stained fingers darting over an unfurled scroll. A lantern – nailed at the base to the table – provided flickering light.

Outside, walked the Shade. Just how they preferred it.

 _Just how I prefer it, too._

Kaltern signed off the scroll, then looked up at the only other person in the War Wagon. "Put the King's Seal on it," he said, swaying slightly in his chair from the wagon's motion. It had taken him an age to write the letter because of exactly that. "Then have a bird drop it over Castle Town.

The soldier took the paper with a quizzical look.

"It's a three hour amnesty," Kaltern explained. "Whoever wants to leave the town can do so. After that, they're all fair game for the Shade, Resistance or otherwise."

"Sir," the sub-ordinate replied with a slight bow of his head. "How will the whole city read it in time?"

Kaltern shrugged, and leaned back in his chair. "Not my concern. I'm not wasting the King's paper – or my time – writing duplicates." He glanced up at his man and studied his face. "You have something else to add…?"

The soldier licked his lips. "It's just…I heard – heard a _story –_ that they – the Hylians – once pushed back an invasion from - from these beings. The Twili." He rocked on his feet but still managed to stay impressively stable. "That would make them quiet formidable, would it not…?"

Kaltern frowned. All knowledge of that event had been supressed by the King. "Really," he said dryly. "A _story?_ Faeries and pixies called the Twili?" He snorted. "Look at reality, man. _We_ defeated the Hylians. Easily. That proves they are a nothing people."

Silence followed. Kaltern felt the urge to prod it. "Right?"

The soldier snapped to attention. "Yes, sir," he said. "Of course, sir. Forgive my indulgence."

"Forgiven." The captain began tracing patterns nonchalantly on the wooden table. "Out of curiosity, where exactly did you hear this st-"

The wagon lurched to a sudden halt. Kaltern threw his palms onto the table-top to steady himself.

Three hollow knocks rang from the vehicle's single door. Kaltern and his man locked eyes. Without thinking, the captain's hand dropped to the locket he kept in one pocket – a locket with a pictograph of Layle and Mya.

Kaltern cleared his throat. He could hear the thud of his own heart. He didn't like it.

"Go see what our…companions want."

The soldier hesitated, then with a swallow, he shuffled over to the door. Kaltern craned his neck to take a peek. No words were exchanged. A purple cape billowed in the open doorway. And then the door shut and the soldier returned, visibly relieved. He held out a parchment.

"Looks like we've received a letter as well," the soldier said.

A bright scarlet seal marked this one – in contrast to the dark ruby red of the King's. This one was from Kaltern's own men. He broke it open and scanned the letter.

"Sir…?" the soldier said, clearly noticing Kaltern's darkening expression.

"Too far," the captain growled. He ran a hand through his blond hair. "These Hylians have gone too far." The skin around his mouth pinched. "They've attacked one of the King's transports. Took all the gold. Killed one of his concubines."

Kaltern spun back toward the table and took the quill in a tight grip. He sighed. "Looks like I have one more letter to write."

* * *

Zelda crouched in front of a metal hatch built into a mound of dirt. She shivered against the cold night of Kakariko, then grasped the rusted handle and pulled the hatch open with a tug. The familiar scent of damp air wafted out. Zelda smiled.

Home.

She slipped into the opening, landing in a dimly-lit tunnel underground. Water spattered under her boots as she walked, and the gold coins in her pockets tinkled in time to her steps.

The Warrens. That's what this place was called. Tunnels that ran beneath the village, and home to all the outcasts and the dregs – people that would even be rejected at Beggars' Alley. No one bothered them down here. And that's just how they liked it.

Zelda passed circular wooden doors built either side into the dirt walls of the tunnel. She had no idea who her neighbours were. She didn't care. So long as they didn't care about her in return.

Finally, Zelda stopped in front of one door. It had a 'Z' crudely scratched into the gnarled wood. A fading lantern hung next to a metal basket of sticks. She took one, opened the glass to the lantern, and lit it, then entered.

Zelda lit the lamps inside, and then took a deep breath as she looked around the small, single room that held a reed mat for a bed and very little else. A corner blackened with soot marked where she made her fire. There were no other distinguishing features.

She hadn't been back for a few days now; instead, she'd slept rough in the copse, waiting for the King's wagon, staving off her growling stomach by eating dried leaves. Imagine a daughter of a princess living like this - not that she could ever remember life in Hyrule Castle, anyway.

Thinking of food, Zelda reached into a pouch at her belt and tore free a piece of bread. She popped it into her mouth. Money well spent.

Zelda noticed how she'd left her pots, pans and water pouches all neat and tidy. Not like her at all. _That's_ how certain she'd been that she would find the Hero's Ghost and be free.

She felt like slapping herself. _How stupid am I?_

Just because she was young, it didn't mean she had to _act_ like it. The Sisterhood had taught her to be savvy. That, and how to use a dagger. She'd been grateful for that, if nothing else.

Zelda kicked off her boots. Her feet ached in their newfound freedom. She leaned back against one wall, chewed on the bread still in her mouth, and closed her eyes.

What had she been expecting? That the Hero's Ghost would pop out of thin air like magic…?

 _BANG._

Zelda jumped.

She blinked rapidly, and tried to slow her startled breath. The door. The noise had come from the front door.

Zelda quickly swallowed her bread. She waited, her every limb painfully still. Another knock came, a single one, like a slap on the wood. Her heart sped. No one had knocked on her door down here. _Ever._

Zelda forced saliva down her throat. First the guards at the crypt, then the failed wagon raid - had she finally attracted too much attention...? Her left hand began to tremble.

Zelda's ears pricked up. She cocked her head to one side. There it was again – a different noise like…

A groan of pain followed from outside. Slowly, Zelda moved back to the door and undid the latch. One hand gripped around the marble hilt of her dagger, she then opened the door a crack.

Her eyes readjusted to the dim light. Something lay huddled on the floor of the dark tunnel outside. It moaned. Zelda opened the door further and looked down.

It was a boy. A boy tangled in a bloodstained cloak.

* * *

He was a few years older than her – how much older, Zelda couldn't quite tell. He lay on her reed mat, the breath fluting from his lips, his skin feverish. A rusted lantern sat beside his head, turning his straw-coloured hair a blazing orange.

Zelda squeezed a wet rag over his forehead. His closed eyes twitched in response. She felt a quiver of doubt. Was she even doing this right…? The only wounds she'd ever had to tend to had been her own.

Not that he actually _had_ any real wounds. He had scratches, sure, but the blood on his cloak didn't appear to be his.

 _So whose is it…?_

The boy's eyes suddenly fluttered open. Zelda sat back.

"What…" he said. "Where…" His eyes found Zelda. "Who are you?"

"I'm Zelda," she replied. He turned his head to look at her more intently. Feeling uncomfortable, Zelda looked around for her water pouch and, after finding it and uncorking the stopper, brought it to his lips. "Drink."

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. His eyes still hadn't left her. And then he coughed, spluttering.

"Careful," she said, pulling the pouch away. "Not so quick."

The boy wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He returned to his study of her face.

Zelda ignored it. "Who are you?" she prodded. "How did you get here?"

"I…" He swallowed. "I think I stumbled down here. I didn't realise it was a tunnel."

Zelda winced inwardly. She must have forgotten to close the hatch. But then, that would mean he hadn't been that far behind her overground…?

The boy spoke again. "I just…I was hurting so much." He paused to rub his forehead with the heel of one palm, then asked, "Did you take care of me?"

"As much as I could," Zelda replied. She resealed the water pouch and put it down. "What's your name?"

"I'm…" He blinked, hesitating. "Um. Link. Call me Link."

 _A lie._

Zelda blinked away the sudden thought.

"What happened to you?" she asked instead.

"I was running away."

"From what?"

"Hyrule Castle Town." He gulped. "It's…it was horrible."

Confusion creased Zelda's face. "What was…? What happened in Castle Town…?"

"The Resistance," the boy replied.

"Who?"

"You haven't heard of them?"

Zelda shook her head.

"They're fighting the King. They…we believe that there's only one Royal Family in Hyrule. And it's not this foreign King."

Zelda felt a cold grip clutch her heart. Why _hadn't_ she heard of any of this…? "You're with this…Resistance?"

"Yes," Link replied. "We managed to take Castle Town. From the Usurper. But then the King's men…" He closed his eyes. "It was horrible. The blood. The screams. I never want…" His voice trailed off.

Zelda's heart twisted again. There were people fighting – dying – for _her?_

 _For my Mother. Not me._

But still. This wasn't what she wanted. Not at all. She had no desire to take back the throne. She just wanted…wanted…

 _What? Be a Hero…? What does that even mean?_

"They didn't even spare children," said Link. His voice took on a sudden steely edge. "But I know the Resistance will keep fighting." A grimy hand curled into a fist. "They'll give their lives to protect the people."

Transfixed, Zelda just stared at him. This was it. She hadn't realised it until that very moment, but this was it. The chance to take the Hero's path had just presented itself to her. _This_ was what it meant to be a Hero.

Zelda slowly rose to her feet. "I'm…I'm going to pack some things."

"What?" Link blinked in puzzlement. "Why…?"

Zelda took in a deep breath. "When you're better, we're going," she said. "We're going to Castle Town."

Link started to shake his head, then winced from the effort. "You can't. It's dangerous. And…and…I don't want to. Don't make me go back there. _Please_."

"I'll protect you," she replied gently. "I can do it. Trust me. I can help."

The boy said no more.

 _Good._ She didn't want him to talk her out of it. Zelda took another look around her sparse dwelling.

 _Pack some things…? Fat chance…_

She'd probably take the only spare set of clothes she owned. Other than that, she already had everything she needed with her – the gold coins, her dagger, even Old Sloat's mirror. Who knows, maybe it would come in useful…?

As she busied herself with her thoughts, Zelda took her eyes off of her patient. She missed the gleam of satisfaction in his eyes. Didn't see the curl of his lips, the slow smile spreading over the boy Link's face.


	4. Ghost Town

**4 – Ghost Town**

"There you go, lassie."

Wrinkled hands gifted Zelda a whole loaf of bread. In return, Zelda slipped a gold coin into the old man's waiting palm.

"Thanks," she said, flashing a smile before tugging up her hood.

With the bread safely tucked away in her slim travel pack strapped to her back, Zelda rejoined the market crowd thronging the narrow cobbled street. Covered stalls were set out on either side of the road, and the air rang with shouts as the Kakariko traders hawked their wares.

Zelda spotted Link watching her with wide eyes as he stood, hands shoved into his pockets, under a white parasol set up against the noonday sun. She noticed with some dismay that he seemed to be eager to say something. She had a pretty good idea what as well.

"A whole gold coin for just a loaf of bread?!" he blurted when she reached her.

 _Knew it._

"I don't carry change," she replied calmly. "It's better this way."

Her hand dropped to the bulging pouch around her belt. Link noticed.

"You could build yourself a whole house with that!" he hissed.

"Don't want the attention," she countered. "A twelve-year-old girl building a house?"

"Oh, but buying bread with gold doesn't attract any attention, right?"

Zelda sighed. This boy was starting to annoy her. _This is why I like it alone._

"Look," she said. "They know me here. It's no problem."

"I would think that they knowing you _is_ a problem," he growled. "How have you managed to survive this long...?!"

Zelda scowled. This idiot knew nothing about her. She trusted the folk here – more so than when flashing gold over at Beggars' Alley. Starving men knew no loyalty.

Link's face softened. "Are you really just twelve…?"

Zelda shrugged. A guess at best – but, anyway, she didn't want to answer any more of his questions. Hopefully, her age would put off his constant stares, but from what little she knew of boys, she doubted it.

"I'm seventeen," the boy declared. "I think."

"That's nice."

Zelda thrust her hand into her pocket. "You need a weapon," she said, a flinty edge to her young voice. "Go over to the smithy and get yourself a sword."

"You're giving orders now?"

"Just go." She had to force herself to hand over a coin. Giving to beggars was one thing. Giving to anyone else she found hard.

The boy's eyes bulged at the sight of gold.

"Nothing fancy," she added.

"Right…" he replied, shaking his head. Zelda watched him leave.

Her tunic fluttered in the breeze. As soon as the boy got back, they could move on. A glint of metal caught her eye. She half-turned to peek out of her hood. Soldiers marched in formation down the street. Green-liveried ones.

 _The King's men._

Zelda felt a tremor deep in her chest. The rhythmic chorus of steel began to sing from the opposite end of the street as well. She turned. More soldiers. They wore no weapons - just carried unlit torches. Her stomach clenched.

A murmur of unease swept over the traders. Zelda saw it in their confused eyes. It mirrored the painful spike of fear that rode the beating of her heart.

She felt Link's presence as he found his way back to her.

"Well," he said. "Look what I –"

"Shh!"

"What –"

Flint sparked. The torches rippled alight. Zelda sucked in a sharp breath and clutched the boy's sleeve hard. "Run!"

Panic exploded in the narrow street. Crazed, screaming townsfolk scattered in every direction, filling every available space.

Zelda couldn't breathe. Sunlight vanished from her vision. Too many people crowded around her. _They'll crush me!_

Thick, black smoke began to drift overhead. Zelda, still clinging to Link's sleeve, wiped her stinging eyes with her free hand. She caught a glimpse of the stall tarpaulins withering under a wave of flame. Stifling air began to burn in her throat.

 _This is madness! How do w-_

A stray elbow jolted her to one side. Her head reeled. A knee almost sent her sprawling to the ground. Still she kept her grip tight on Link's sleeve.

Then she heard a sharp cry. Zelda snapped her head toward it. She saw a splash of crimson. Saw Link's newly-purchased short-sword cut an inelegant slash. The unfortunate victim stumbled out of the way – and revealed an opening in the throng.

Zelda gasped, then tugged Link as she burst into a sprint, head down, her hood flinging back from the sudden motion. An overturned stall blocked their path – the two of them leapt over it, then lurched sideways into an alleyway. They kept running, away from the smoke, shouts and fiery chaos.

Zelda took long, painful breaths as they slowed to stop. She let go of Link and looked over at him. His eyes gleamed with excitement through his flushed expression.

"Ha!" he said, waving his short sword. "That'll teach you. If only he could see me n–" He froze, his jaw snapping shut as though realising he'd said too much.

Zelda pretended not to notice. For now. "That was…pretty good."

Link beamed. "Really? You think so?"

Zelda felt annoyance bite again. She wasn't going to rise to his compliment-baiting. "We're leaving," she said instead. "We need to leave."

The boy blinked. "What was all that about?"

"I…don't know," she replied. Zelda looked back toward the marketplace. All she could see now was a flickering orange glow haloed by black smoke. "A revenge attack, maybe. Someone annoyed the King."

 _Probably me._

That captain had been looking for the guards' killer, after all. And then the whole raid on the wagon…

The glum thoughts nudged her heart with guilt. "We _really_ need to go."

"Well, okay," Link replied brightly. "Off to Hyrule Castle Town we go, then. A quest! I'm sure we'll slay lots of monsters on the way and have many grand adventures!"

* * *

They didn't.

The two of them lay flat on their stomachs on the crest of a hill that overlooked Castle Town. Zelda shuffled forward, sharp blades of grass tickling her through her tunic. Eerily quiet, Castle Town stood with a cloud of grey ash hovering over it. Rubble lay strewn over the southernmost entrance, the result of a pair of collapsed towers. Burned and blackened buildings stood as silent sentinels.

"It's like…" Zelda gasped. "Like a ghost town…" She couldn't see a single living thing. "Where is everyone…?"

Something else caught her eye. Over in the distance stood a dark, lonely outline with broken walls and once-proud towers now half-crumbled. Crows cawed as they circled over the ruins.

Hyrule Castle.

Zelda gazed at it – but felt no stirring in her heart.

"I have to find Rusl," said Link, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Who?"

"Rusl," he replied. "He's our leader. The leader of the Resistance."

Zelda inhaled deeply. "Let's go, then."

They made their way down the hill, climbed over the collapsed towers and crossed a wooden bridge to enter the town. Oppressive silence weighed them down. The debris of shattered pillars crunched under Zelda's boots, and the air shimmered wherever tiny pockets of fire still burned. Soot blew on the breeze, making Zelda cough and her nose wrinkle.

"You see," the boy said softly. "This is what they do. The King and his soldiers."

Zelda said nothing. She gazed around, trying to spot anything moving, any tiny sign of life. Every time her gaze swept across the horizon, she couldn't help but catch sight of the distant castle. She started to resent the reminder.

Link wasn't done. "They crush our bodies. They erase our history. You know the King has banned all mention of the Twili invasion?" he said. "You know what that is, right?"

"Yes," she said simply. Her voice carried a deathly echo in the deserted city.

"Trying to erase our history," Link muttered again. "But we remember." His voice dropped. "Some of us were even there..."

That earned him a curious glance from Zelda. She really needed to sit him down and ask him some questions. For the moment, though, they walked on.

Zelda looked up at the burnt out windows above, her boots crunching shards of glass below. Parts of the street jutted up as though some mighty beast had clawed its way out from the depths.

 _What could cause this much destruction…?_

Zelda heard Link take a breath, as though readying himself for something. She half-turned his way.

"You know," he began, his voice now soft. "In case we don't make it –"

Zelda frowned. "Why wouldn't we make it?"

"Well. Um." He coughed shyly. "I just wanted to say. These past few days. Um. Travelling with you. Well…"

Zelda stopped, and turned to him fully. He, on the other hand, couldn't quite meet her eyes.

"I know you're a bit young," the boy went on. "But I think we could be great friends. And, maybe, who knows?" He shrugged, then ran a palm through the tangle of his hair. "Maybe something more…?" A lop-sided grin hung from his lips.

Zelda stared at him, face impassive. He waited, expectation shining in his eyes.

"You _idiot_ ," she said at last, and stalked off.

"Hey!" Link called, trailing after her.

Zelda seethed. _Of all the stupid, boneheaded companions I had to end up with –_

"Come back!" he cried. Zelda quickened her steps. "Why are you acting up like this?"

Finally, she spun on her heels to face him. "I'm – you're –" Zelda threw up her arms . "Ugh!" She grit her teeth. "Now isn't the time."

The boy, huffing, caught up to her. Zelda couldn't quite tell if his scarlet-tinged cheeks were from blushing or just a result of all his effort.

She didn't care.

"So…" he puffed. "That means later it wil-"

" _No!"_

No…no…no…no…

Too loud. She'd been too loud. Zelda waited for her echo to recede. Her skin crawled.

 _Something's not right…_

Zelda turned her head. They were standing at the mouth of another broken street. "Look." She pointed.

Link turned. At the far end, they both spied a man – one of the townsfolk – on his knees, clothes torn and dirt caking his face. A gust of wind rattled the rocky debris scattered across the road. The man slowly raised his head.

Heart thudding, Zelda took a step -

When Link's arm shot out, blocking her path. "Wait!" He craned his neck to one side. "Listen..."

Zelda's ears pricked up. Eerie music began to filter through the air. She threw a quizzical glance at Link – then started when he saw his ashen-faced expression.

"Oh…no…" he whispered.

"What?" said Zelda, unable to keep her voice from rising in reaction. " _What?!"_

The boy spun to face her. He tore a strip from his sleeve, then tore that in two. "Stuff this in your ears!" he barked. "And don't listen. Don't listen to the music!"

"Why…?"

" _Now!"_

"What's happening?!"

"It's a Shade!"

Zelda took the cloth, but gazed around bewildered. The music grew, odd otherworldly notes that made her heart flutter, and not in a good way. She felt her head drift, saw the whole world around her began to shimmer. Her gaze fell upon the townsman. "What about…?"

Link shook his head violently. Busy plugging his own ears with a freshly torn sleeve, he added, "It's too late for him!"

Zelda's eyes fluttered. "Is it…getting hot…?"

Without another word, Link snatched the fabric from Zelda's hands and stuffed it into her ears himself. Zelda would've winced at such close proximity, but she felt too distracted, felt so odd.

 _Like I'm…in a dream…_

The sensation vanished as soon as her ears were plugged. She could still hear the music, but muffled as it was, it had little effect.

Zelda's eyes were drawn again to the far end of the ruined street. She saw a flicker of movement and felt her spine stiffen. The townsman noticed, too. He slowly turned his head – and began to scream.

Zelda's mouth went bone-dry. A moving, billowing purple-black shadow, like a living cape or cloak came into view; it had arms, legs, but no head - this thing had to be the Shade. Nothing else could have spooked Link so much.

The townsman dropped to all fours and scrabbled about in the dirt, his fingers clawing, searching, then desperately trying to push stones and broken debris into his ears. The music increased in volume – not so much as to pierce through to Zelda's covering, but enough to be noticeable – and the man's scream pitched in time.

Then, one by one, the buildings at the far end of the street silently disintegrated into a billowing cloud of dust. The wind gusted, blowing fine sand toward Zelda and Link.

Zelda scrunched her eyes shut, feeling the tiny particles pelt her skin. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the Shade drifting forward. Zelda took a reflexive step back.

The stranded townsman stopped screaming, as though in a sudden daze. A crooked smile crossed his face. His skin blistered. Wisps of steam began to drift from his eyes. He screamed again.

Zelda shut her eyes again and turned away. She felt sick.

A heartbeat later the man's scream vanished, snuffed out like someone pinching the flame of a candle.

Zelda flung open her eyes and broke into a run. _A ghost! A ghost in a ghost town!_

She turned a corner, and the street opened out into the town square. Only then did she realise that Link wasn't with her. Zelda stumbled to a halt, then spun around in a complete circle, her eyes searching.

Nothing!

Fear and frustration blistered her heart. _Where was that idiot boy?!_

She turned back – and bumped into someone so hard that she fell back and hit the ground. Zelda winced, then looked up. A man stared down at her. A blue-eyed, blond man in the King's livery. He had a struggling Link in his grasp.

Zelda knew who he was. She remembered him from the inn back in Kakariko.

Captain Kaltern reached down with his free hand and caught Zelda's wrist in a tight vice-like grip.


	5. Homecoming

**5 – Homecoming**

Zelda jerked awake. Blinking, her eyes gummy, she looked around. She was in the same abandoned building the captain had dumped the two of them in hours earlier. Not that she'd really expected anything different.

She shivered. A glance through the jagged, gaping hole where there'd once been a wall told her that night, with its chill, had fallen. Moonlight marbled Castle Town in a milky ghost-like hue.

Zelda sat on a chair, her hands bound painfully behind the backrest. She felt the familiar gnaw in her stomach and realised she hadn't eaten in _ages._ The captain hadn't taken the bread from her belt, though; in fact he'd even left her gold and her dagger. No-one watched over them, not even that Shade monster.

 _That's how little he thinks of us,_ she thought. _Not even worth taking our weapons or posting a guard._

Zelda felt slightly insulted.

There were two other chairs, and a table as well. The chair opposite stood empty. Link sat in the other right next to her, similarly bound, his short sword stuffed in a makeshift scabbard at his belt. He'd been unconscious when they'd been brought here, but not now he was wide-eyed and twitchy.

"Listen," he hissed. "Make sure he doesn't learn your name."

"Why?"

"You should never tell anyone your name," the boy replied. "Especially not you. And especially not to a Calatian." He wore a desperate, feverish expression. "I can't believe you announce it to anyone who asks. Half of Kakariko probably knows who you are."

Not for the first time, Zelda didn't like his tone. His mention of her home, though, made her heart grow cold. She wondered what had happened to all the people in the market fire…

 _I just left them. Why don't I ever think…?_ Her thoughts soured. _So much f_ _or the noble path…_

"Are you even listening?"

Zelda glared. "Yes," she snapped back. "Yes, I am. But tell me why? Who cares about my name?"

Link didn't get a chance to answer. A door swung open and Captain Kaltern strode in. Another soldier, a subordinate from the way he walked at the captain's heels, accompanied him. This one positioned himself behind Link and Zelda while Kaltern sat himself down in the last chair. He rolled a golden locket between the fingers of one gloved hand.

"So," said the captain. "Let's not mince words. I'm here to learn about the Resistance."

Link sniffed. "Don't know what that is."

Kaltern flicked a lazy glance his way. "Boy," he said, "You're a terrible liar." A hint of a threat crested the captain's voice. He set down the locket, entwined his fingers, then cracked his knuckles. "I need to know names, numbers. How many of them are there, actually?"

The man's blithe calmness stoked something deep in Zelda's soul. She felt a sudden torrent of emotion burst free. "What have you done to Castle Town?" she barked. "What have you done to the people? How could you?"

Kaltern favoured her with a cool gaze. "What have _I_ done…?"

"Yes, you!" Zelda spat. "You and that…that monster. That Shade."

Link winced. Kaltern's regard turned stony. "Interesting that you know its name, girl," he said. "Not many people do."

Zelda felt her cheeks burn. She hung her head, cursing herself inwardly.

"It wasn't me," Kaltern announced.

Zelda looked up. "What?"

The captain rubbed the tip of his finger over his locket, then picked it up again. "All this." He gestured to the town outside. "It wasn't me. Nor the three Shade, either. This is how we found Castle Town."

Zelda snorted. " _Right._ "

"Yes," Kaltern replied, nonplussed. "Right. This is why I need to find the Resistance. I need to know what weapon they possess that can do this."

Zelda shook her head – then froze. She noticed Link trying his hardest to not meet her eye.

She twitched. Her heart sank. _What is going on here…?_

Kaltern looked from Zelda to Link. "Well…?" he said. "More people will die if I don't stop whatever it is they have. Do either of you want to volunteer any information…?"

"I don't know anything," Zelda whispered with complete conviction.

The wind sighed through the building's broken opening.

A long silence followed before Captain Kaltern spoke again. "No," he said at last, "I don't believe you do. Even a savage like Rusl wouldn't recruit someone as young as you." He turned his attention to Link and leaned in close. "But _you…_ you seem the type."

Link glared. "You're mistaken."

A flicker of a smirk crossed the captain's face. "A savage like Rusl wouldn't recruit _her,_ " said Kaltern. "But he'd have no qualms in sending his -" The captain stopped, a sudden thought striking him. He turned to Zelda, then back to Link. "Who is she?"

"No one," the boy replied quickly.

"Why are you with her?" said Kaltern. "Who _is_ she?"

He stood slowly, glowering, the locket's chain unravelling from the finger it hung from.

Link spoke again. "I just found her wande-"

"Shut up," the captain cut in. "If you're not going to speak truly, then shut up."

His stare fixed onto Zelda. She shrank back in her chair. She had _no_ idea what was happening.

"What's your name, girl?" he demanded.

Zelda could see Link from the corner of her eye, see his frantic head movements. "Um," she said. "Tammy."

"Tammy," Kaltern repeated. His voice carried a note of disbelief. "Daughter of…?"

"M-Micay and Joel." Zelda swallowed. "Of Kakariko."

"You don't seem too sure."

"I am!" Her voice sparked. "You try and answer questions when you're hungry and all tied up."

The captain held her gaze a moment longer, then his eyes flicked up to his companion. "Watch them," he said. "I have a message to send His Highness."

Captain Kaltern turned away. His footsteps receded before the slam of a closing door cut them off. Zelda stared at the floor, the sound of her own breathing her only companion. She didn't want to talk to Link. Not just now. Sure, it had been obvious he'd been hiding something – but now she began to believe that Link appearing at her front door had been no accident.

Her wrists tingled. Zelda felt the blood rush back in. Her hands suddenly became loose. She frowned, and turned her head. The other soldier, the one meant to be guarding them, sawed away at Link's binds.

"Thanks, Auru," said Link, standing when the rope fell away. He rubbed the red welts below his palms.

Zelda, confused, stood as well.

"They're in Telma's Bar," the man called Auru said. "Or what's left of it."

"Thought so," Link replied. "What are you going to say?" He jerked his head toward the door. "To the Calatian, I mean."

The corner of Auru's mouth curled upward. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll just tell him I was…attacked by a wolf, hey? Then one of you broke free and helped the other to escape."

He winked. Link grinned.

Auru turned to Zelda. He sighed. "So alike…" he murmured, then returned his attention to the boy. "Take care of her."

Link nodded. "I will." He took Zelda by the hand. "Let's go."

* * *

Zelda followed Link like a shadow as he led her through the empty streets of Castle Town. She felt numb. Her only awareness of the cold came from the goosebumps prickling her skin.

 _Secrets. Everywhere, secrets._

Link seemed to sense her unease. He didn't even try to engage her in conversation.

 _Good._

But now what? She'd come for the Resistance, but now wasn't entirely sure she wanted to meet them. Why was the noble path so hard…? Zelda felt a sudden pang for home.

She decided to break the silence. "Lots of girls are named after...after the old princess."

"Have you been living under a rock?" Link replied. "The King banned anyone giving their daughter that name five years back."

"I was born before then."

"Yes, well," the boy replied. He scratched his head. "I told you they want to erase everything about us from history."

Zelda shrugged. "Everyone talks about the old times in Kakariko. We know about the princess, and the Twili and-and the Hero."

"Only in secret," said Link. "All the Royal records were destroyed. So future generations wouldn't know. And the ordinary Calatian as well."

"Why not just kill us all, then?"

Link's voice turned grim. "They enjoy keeping us down..."

Moonlight suddenly flashed off of something hanging from Zelda's belt. She glanced down and saw Old Sloat's battered mirror. Not exactly knowing why, she tugged it free and pulled it up to her face. Her moon-blurred reflection gazed back. Zelda stared straight into the glass, as though in a trance.

Then, suddenly, something deep within her surged up and spilled out onto her tongue to whisper, "Help me."

And then a cloud drifted across the moon and the spell broke. Zelda flicked her eyes up. Link was watching her, curious.

Quickly, she stuffed the mirror back onto her belt. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks.

 _Stupid. When am I going to stop being such a child?_

The boy completely misunderstood. "I am here to help you," he said softly. When Zelda didn't reply, he continued. "You should look in a mirror more. I would if I were you."

Zelda's voice soured. "I'm not that vain."

"You should be."

She sighed. "You're not very good at this."

Link bristled. "At what?"

"Talking to girls," she replied.

Link's voice grew hot. "Oh, and I suppose you talk to lots of boys, huh?"

"No." Zelda blinked, taken aback by his reaction. "Not really."

"I did know a girl." The sudden sadness in his voice made Zelda regret her harshness. "But she's gone now…"

Link stopped. He pointed. "Down there."

A decrepit shack of a building sat at the bottom of the declining road. The windows were dark. A sign with faded paint – declaring the establishment as _Telma's_ – swung in the slight breeze.

They entered. Splinters lay strewn across the dusty floor. A bar stood at the far end, empty bottles lining the wall behind. Next to that was a door to the rear.

"We're here," Link said in a quiet voice. "You can come out now."

They did. First, a slender woman slinked in through the rear door and leaned against the bar, one elbow on the surface to prop her chin up on her palm.

"Ashei," said Link. The woman nodded in return.

Next came a young girl, maybe a little older than Zelda herself, carrying a lit lantern. "Lara," said Link. He turned slightly to Zelda. "My little sister." The girl sat cross-legged on the floor and gave a little wave.

Two more entered. A man with chestnut-brown hair and spectacles stood next to Ashei. Link smiled at him. "Shad." The man smiled back.

Finally, a tall imposing figure waited. His hair was greying and he sported both a moustache and a beard. He had a sword strapped to his back, and he wore a dirty headband that Zelda mused must have been white in better days.

Link made his way to stand in front of this one and looked up. "Da."

The man grinned. "Colin!" He bent down and engulfed the boy in a fierce hug. "Welcome home, son!"

Zelda pursed her lips. "Colin."

The boy – Colin – glanced back at her. "Never tell anyone your real name," he said, wearing a lopsided smile.

The older man - Rusl, obviously. Who else could it be? - released the embrace, then stood and looked over at Zelda. "You're here. Finally."

She didn't catch the import in his words. Her eyes were on Colin. "I knew 'Link' wasn't your name." Bitter spite poisoned Zelda's voice. "The captain was right. You're a bad liar."

Colin's face darkened. Zelda didn't care if he took offence. She just wanted to needle him. "Who's 'Link', then? Something you just plucked out of thin air…?"

Rusl answered for Colin. "Link was the Hero of Hyrule. The descendent of a Legendary Hero from long ago. Our Link – and the Twilight Princess, Midna – defeated Zant and Ganondorf when they threatened the world." He sighed deeply. "He saved us."

Zelda blinked. Her anger cooled. "I…never knew his name."

Maybe the Sisterhood had known. They'd never told her, though. Nor did the folk in Kakariko.

"It's the kind of knowledge the King wants to keep buried," said Rusl. "Along with anyone who possessed it." A distant expression overcame him. "Like our friend Telma." His voice cracked. "Like my Uli."

"We knew more than his name," said Colin quickly. He seemed eager to change the subject. "We lived with him."

"Aye," the older man said. "Colin here wanted to be just like him when he was a baby."

"I was five," Colin protested. "Or was it six?"

Rusl smiled, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "And I think he's done an admirable job living up to the Hero."

Rusl's earlier words finally clocked in Zelda's mind. She tensed. "What do you want with me?"

She saw Ashei and Shad exchange glances. Rusl took in a deep breath, then slowly sank to one knee. Colin, standing beside him, bowed his head. Ashei and Lara stood. Shad watched with a thoughtful gaze.

"Zelda," said Rusl, his voice solemn. "Daughter of Princess Zelda, the true ruler of Hyrule." A pause, then, "You're home now. Your real home." His eyes glistened. "Accept our cause. Accept us. Our lives are now yours to command."


	6. Into Darkness

**6 - Into Darkness**

The silence stretched in the moonlit inn. Zelda stared, and the Resistance waited. Dancing light bled from Lara's lantern.

Leather creaked from his scabbard as Rusl rose to his feet. "You…you must be hungry," he said in a soft voice. "Thirsty…?"

Zelda ignored him, her eyes shifting to Colin instead.

"You were sent to bring me here?" she said.

The boy looked a little sheepish. "And I found you," he said. "And…and…you're _real._ I couldn't believe it. When you said your name –" His words died as he caught sight of her expression. "Don't be like that. We're friends now."

"We are not," Zelda retorted. "You tricked me. You had blood on your cloak."

"Cucco blood," Colin admitted.

 _Ugh. I'm an idiot._

Rusl cleared his throat. His finger twitched. Zelda saw it, saw Shad and Ashei step away from the bar and begin to fan out.

Zelda's hand casually dropped to the leather sheath on her hip where she kept her dagger. She stepped back. Spilt sand crunched under her boot.

"We needed you to see this," said Rusl, his voice carefully controlled. Lantern light set half his face aglow. "To see Castle Town. To see what they had done."

"After you took it over," Zelda replied. "Right?"

Rusl gave a firm nod. "Yes."

She spied Shad and Ashei inch closer to her. Zelda pretended not to notice. "Just the five of you...?"

Hesitation flickered over Rusl's face. Then a smile washed it away. "You truly are your mother's daughter," he said. "You have her wisdom. Beyond your years, too."

Zelda had long since grown immune to compliments. Not that she ever received that many, but she'd learned on the streets of Kakariko. Hollow words spun with sugar, flattery always meant someone wanted something from her.

"You didn't answer me," she said. "Five of you. Six. You have someone with the captain." Her brow wrinkled in thought. "Why can't the captain tell that soldier's a Hylian…?"

"Could you tell?" said Colin.

Zelda shook her head slightly. "I wasn't really looking…"

"Look, let's cut to the chase, yeah?" It was Ashei who spoke. "The King's going to fall soon. That means Hyrule needs a ruler. It's true ruler." She pointed. " _You're_ next in line, girl."

Zelda's heart skipped. "I don't want it."

Shad spoke next, coughing politely for attention. Everyone looked his way, expectant.

They respect him, Zelda realised.

 _Why, though?_

"You've been chosen for this, my dear," Shad said. "The people. Your people. They need help." He smiled. "You want to help them, don't you? Wouldn't that be simply magnificent?"

Zelda glared. This was another thing she was used to. Being talked to like she was a baby.

"I'll help them my own way." She shifted back on one foot. Ashei stepped forward to match. "Maybe...maybe just by inspiring them. Somehow. Maybe one day that'll help change things."

Truth be told, she hadn't really thought about it. She just didn't want to be involved. Not like this. Not on someone else's terms.

"Zelda," said Rusl in a firm tone. "You're still young. There are things you haven't yet learned about life."

"I thought I was wise beyond my years...?"

"You are, but -"

Zelda switched back to Ashei. "What do you mean the King's going to fall soon?" she said. "How can you be so sure?"

Ashei blinked in surprise, as though caught doing something she shouldn't. She'd also paused mid-step. Zelda's eyes narrowed.

Rusl chuckled."It's not every day you see Ashei rendered speechless," he said. "And by someone so young."

Zelda was beginning to hate their attitude. "What happened to Castle Town?" she demanded. "The captain thinks you have a weapon. Do you?"

Astonishment shone clear on Rusl's face. He exchanged a hurried glance with Colin. The boy gave a tiny nod.

"Zelda," the Resistance leader said, a slight tremor in his voice. "You mustn't believe anything a Cala-"

"Yeah, we have a weapon," Ashei cut in. Seeing Rusl's glare, she said, "What? Why lie now? You said it yourself. She has smarts." The woman turned to Zelda. "It's going to bring down the Royal City in Faron. The King with it."

Zelda's eyes widened, thunderstruck. "You used it here..." she breathed. "Just like the captain said you did. Everyone in Castle Town..."

"You haven't been through what we have," said Rusl quickly. "Invaded twice. The second time barely two years after the first." He shook his head. "Hyrule Castle fallen _again._ We've lost the princess. We've lost the Hero. We've…" – his voice stumbled – "…lost more. We're not Link. We have to do things differently."

Zelda's thoughts raced. "Be your own hero, then!" she snapped. She looked at Colin. "Didn't you want to be just like him?" Zelda recalled what the boy had said back in her home. "The Resistance would give their lives to protect the people?"

Colin looked away.

"Listen," said Rusl. "Zelda – _Princess_ – listen. We are not evil. The Hylians of Castle Town. They escaped." He paused, then said, "Most of them."

"And the Calatians?"

Shad cleared his throat. "It's not like those ruffians would even have liste-"

"Who cares?" Lara cut in. "They're just Calatians."

"Shh," said Rusl. "Gently, Lara."

Ashei picked up the thread. "They don't pay attention to a hundred Hylian deaths," she said. "One murdered Calatian? Outrage."

Rusl inhaled deeply, then addressed Zelda. "Castle Town was a message, yes. A test as well. To see if our… _method_ would work. This is how we'll end it. This is the only way."

Zelda felt hollow. "In the Royal City."

"Yes."

"With all the people there."

"Trust me," said Ashei. "We're doing the Calatians a favour. They're too stupid to know what's good for them."

"You've asked them, have you?"

"Are you even listening? They're too dumb, I said. Look at how they live. Thievery is a way of life to them. They hold torture parties for entertainment." Ashei raised her chin, her eyes glittering with conviction. "Kill the King and they'll be happy, too."

Zelda shook her head slowly in disbelief. "They'll be _dead,_ though."

Ashei balled her fists and pushed on. "You want them to live?" she spat. "The ones who killed your own mother? You may as well just dance on her grave."

They all froze, shocked.

Zelda felt her jaw stiffen. "Get away from me," she hissed. "All of you."

Rusl took a step forward, Ashei reached out for her – but Zelda spun out their grasp. Shad dived in, but she ducked his clumsy lunge. He ploughed through a table, and Ashei tripped over him in the ensuing mayhem.

Too fast for any of them, Zelda bolted out into the cold Castle Town streets and ran. She heard shouts chase her.

Urgent footsteps soon followed.

* * *

"I should have brought a healer."

Captain Kaltern leaned back against the edge of the table. His sub-ordinate sat in the chair that, when Kaltern had last seen it, had held one of his two young prisoners.

Kaltern slapped the table with the base of his palm. "Curse me for being a fool. I got too overconfident. I'm sorry, Auru."

"No, sir," Auru replied, eyes downcast. With a rag he nursed a huge scarlet lump on the side of his head. "I'm ashamed to say I fled," he said. "I should be the one to apologise. There were too many of them and – and -"

"Shh," the captain replied. "I'll put in my report that you fought bravely but were overcome."

"Thank you, sir."

Kaltern sighed. "So, the Resistance attacked."

Auru nodded.

"And they took the girl."

Auru's lip twitched. "The boy, too."

Kaltern dismissed his words with a wave. "The boy was Rusl's son. I know that much. The girl –"

"You think she could be his daughter?" said Auru. "It's rumoured he has one."

Kaltern's eyes flashed at the interruption. "No," he said. "Not _his_." The captain readied himself with a deep breath. "I believe we just met Princess Zelda's daughter."

Auru seemed to tense up for a moment. A nervous laugh spilled from his lips. "That was just a peasant story –"

"A story that we know the Resistance were taking seriously," Kaltern cut in. He folded his arms. "They were actively searching for her."

Auru had a moment of silence that he broke by clearing his throat. "Sir," he said. "I don't mean no disrespect but…how can you be so sure…? The princess never married."

"That never stopped a Hylian before," Kaltern replied. "You know what they're like. If it's not nailed down they'd –" The captain stopped himself. "Again, apologies. I didn't mean to be so vulgar."

Auru didn't seem to notice the breach in etiquette. "But this girl…?"

Captain Kaltern hesitated. He knew how ridiculous it would sound if he voiced his reasons. Layle's voice drifted into his mind. _Destiny._

"I…I just have a feeling," he said. "It's her."

Auru stood up. "Let me find her," he said. "I c-"

"Nonsense, man," said the captain. "You're in no condition to go on a search."

"I'm fine, sir. Really."

Kaltern smiled. "You're a good soldier, Auru," he said, placing a hand on the man's shoulder. "You don't need to impress me."

"It's no trouble, sir. I –"

Kaltern held up a finger. "No." He hoped his tone would be enough to kill any further argument. "One of the Shade will go."

Auru seemed visibly troubled by this. Captain Kaltern wasn't surprised. He liked to limit his contact with the Shade himself.

"Sir," said Auru. "What if it's just a Hylian girl they – for whatever reason – decided to take pity on? It'd be a waste to use a Shade just for something so trivial. I should go and make sure first."

"Always thinking of the best way to use the King's resources," the captain replied with another smile. "I'll mention it in my report. You're due a promotion."

Kaltern walked over to the fallen wall to look out into the night sky. His breath began to steam. Auru followed.

"We'll take her body back to the Royal City," the captain said. "The King, he can – he knows how to identify her."

"Sir," Auru said carefully. "What if you're wrong?"

Kaltern shrugged. "If I'm wrong, then there's one less Hylian urchin on the streets. If I'm right…"

The captain's hand reached for his locket again. It reminded him of home. Many of the Calatian generals had been granted leave to retire to the Royal City after the invasion. Not him, though.

"If I'm right," Captain Kaltern said, "then imagine how the King would reward us by finishing off the last remaining member of the Hylian Royal House…?"

* * *

Panting, Zelda ran into a narrow passageway that threaded between two mismatched buildings. She rested back against the hard wall. Had she lost them…?

Zelda kept statue-still, straining her ears and -

No, there it was. The sound of footsteps. She sidled further into the alley, reaching into her bread pouch as she did so and taking a bit. It was hard and chewy - probably getting stale – but the pangs in her stomach eased slightly.

What didn't ease was the temperature. Zelda shivered. It was so _cold._

The heavens seemed to hear her. No sooner as she'd had the thought when silent white flakes began to drift down from the sky.

 _Snow,_ Zelda thought. _But it had been so warm back in Kakariko…_

The patter of footsteps came again. Zelda craned her neck to the right and spied a yawning opening in in the building there. She pulled herself toward it, then slipped into darkness.

She stepped over a pile of broken masonry barely visible under the pale moonlight, and huddled down in the shadows. She couldn't tell what type of place this had been. Darkness shrouded almost everything else.

Zelda tensed as she heard the sound of footsteps grow. Just as quickly, though, they faded away. Her shoulders slumped in relief.

 _Now what?_ She sighed. _I'm stuck here._ Why had she just rushed in to follow Colin...? Why had been so sure that this had been the right path...?

The beggar's voice flitted back to her: _Hold fast to_ _patience._

Her mind turned to the Resistance and their mysterious weapon. Castle Town was a message, they'd said. So stupid. Well, now the Calatians knew they _had_ a weapon and would work even harder to slaughter the whole lot of them. What _was_ the weapon, anyway...?

 _Maybe I should've found out when I had the chance..._

Fatigue suddenly weighed her down, heavy as an anvil. She felt sick at heart.

Zelda drew her knees up to her chin, the soles of her boots scraping splinters of broken glass, and then rocked back and forth, all her dreams of the noble path now crumbled to ash.


	7. The Hero Steps Up

**7 – The Hero Steps Up**

Fresh white powder crunched under Captain Kaltern's boots. He rubbed his palms together, watching the night fade, red streaks of dawn encroaching in on the darkness.

 _How has it gotten so cold so quickly...?_

Kaltern didn't know, but there was certainly something unnatural about it all.

The growing sunlight chased away the shadows, and Castle Town began to reveal itself once again in all its ruined glory. Buildings and streets torn apart, fires still burning despite the snow and even after all this time and –

 _And no sign of a single corpse._

The Resistance. They'd done this. He had to stop them, had to find –

 _The girl._

The two words obliterated all his other thoughts. His iron-clad conviction surprised him, but he didn't question it. Now that he'd started on this path he was determined to see it through. She was his priority now.

Ahead of him floated the silent, velvety shadow of the Shade, as it searched the snow-smothered streets of Castle Town. Kaltern had left Auru back at their temporary base of operations, along with the other two Shade. The soldier hadn't liked that. Kaltern smiled at the memory.

But Auru had been right - the captain had to make sure that the girl was who he thought she was. That's why he'd decided to join the Shade in its search, even though the creature could do the task well enough on its own.

Sunlight flashed in a jagged pane of a broken window nearby, making Kaltern look up. He caught sight of his blurred reflection and stopped, frowning. The captain slowly raised a gloved hand to his face. Was it…changing? The furrows in his brow deepened. He blinked quickly.

No. No, there he was. Clear blue eyes, blond hair – it was him. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. It must have been a trick of the dawn light, or maybe he'd had a little too much to drink - the War Wagon had come fully stocked, of course.

Before he could consider any further, Captain Kaltern felt his skin prickle at the sound of something faint, familiar and utterly eerie.

The Shade had begun its song.

Kaltern wouldn't be affected by it – the Shade could choose who would fall under its spell – but it still unnerved him. Not that it mattered now. This meant only one thing – the Shade had found the girl.

* * *

Zelda tugged her dagger free from its sheath when she heard the sound. Every inch of her body tensed up, all but her heart which pounded loudly.

The noise came again. A soft scuff of boot against stone. Zelda swallowed. She wasn't alone.

 _And whoever it is, they're trying their hardest to stay quiet._

That meant two things: the stranger didn't know she was here, and the person was searching the building.

 _One of the Resistance...? Or a Castle Town survivor looking for food...?_

She'd have to make a run for it. First, though, she'd try and slow the stranger down. Draw him – or her – in and strike with the blade. Sure, she was fast, but Zelda needed any advantage she could muster.

Slowly, Zelda stood, then turned around. Her breathing slowed, her heart still playing a loud, steady beat. Her fingers flexed against the cold hilt of her dagger.

Newborn sunlight poured in through the shattered windows, and Zelda squinted as she tried to make out who, and where, the newcomer was.

 _No one good, I bet._

Her head jerked to the side, her eyes catching sight of a shape in the shadowed corner of the large room. Zelda raised her arm and levelled her dagger in that direction.

"Come out," she said.

Someone did, shuffling, palms up in a placating gesture.

Zelda frowned. "Colin?"

"Yes," he breathed.

"Go away."

"Wait," he said quickly. "Hear me out."

"No."

"Just listen to me, will you?"

Zelda took a step back, the point of her dagger still aimed at the boy. She swept her gaze from side to side. "Where are the others?"

"It's just me," said Colin.

" _Right._ "

"I'm telling the truth!" Colin's eyes were on her, bright and intense. "Listen. _Please._ "

Zelda shuffled back again, toward the large hole she'd stepped through to get in to the building in the first place. "Listening to you got me into this mess."

"Look," he pressed. "There's a small forest nearby - well, more a wood really –"

"Get to the point, Colin."

He cleared his throat. "Right," he said, a slight flush to his cheeks. "I can take you there."

"Sure. To lead me into a trap."

"No!" Colin's eyes bulged. "No. You don't have to be so prickly all the time."

Despite herself, Zelda bristled at his words. "I am not!"

Colin responded with a gentle smile. "You can hide. In the woods, I mean." He hesitated. " _We_ can hide."

Zelda eyed him warily. "We…?"

"I want to join you."

"I'm not an army."

"Neither are the Resistance," Colin countered. "At least, not how they're acting now."

"They sound like an army to me," said Zelda. She knew she should make a break for it, but something told her to wait. "Both are good at killing."

Colin winced. He ran a hand through his hair. "Not all warriors are bad…"

"What about your Da...?" Zelda went on. "You're going to turn tail on him...?"

"Hey," Colin replied. "Listen. You were right. I haven't stepped up. I haven't stepped up to live like Link. I...I need a chance and you…" A shy smile touched his lips. "You're my chance."

Zelda shook her head, forcing herself not to groan out loud. Other girls her age probably would have found that sweet. She, on the other hand, had learned that sentiment was pretty useless - it had never filled an empty stomach, and it wouldn't help either of them today.

Zelda opened her mouth to reply – and froze. The hair on the back of her neck stiffened.

Faint notes of ethereal music floated toward them. Zelda's heart squeezed painfully. Her wide eyes locked with Colin's. "The Shade..."

Colin lunged in and grabbed her wrist. "Come on!"

* * *

"There!"

Kaltern flung his arm up to point at the two youngsters that had just burst out from a building up ahead and were now running up a sloping path that led out of Castle Town. The Shade changed direction, its song growing. Snow swirled up from beneath it, vaporising before it could settle again.

The boy and girl had cloth trailing awkwardly from their ears, the shape of which matched the ragged tears in their tunics. Not that it would matter. Kaltern would catch them and pull the rags free. Maybe pull an ear free, too – they could afford to lose one.

They slipped and slid on the snow. Kaltern almost laughed out loud. This would be so easy.

"Destiny," he said, then frowned instantly. Why had _that_ word come to his lips?

Kaltern shook his head. Steel chimed as he drew his sword. The wind blew, and another flurry of snow began to fall.

The captain moved to follow the Shade –

When a sudden stab of pain made him double over. Jaw clenched, Kaltern forced his trembling free hand up to his eyes. A faint emerald glow began to enclose his fingers. He looked down at the green livery on his chest plate. It spilled out from its bindings, surrounding him, encircling his every limb.

Kaltern scrunched his eyes shut, then opened them again.

The vision – and the pain – had gone.

Captain Kaltern sucked in ice-cold air. Too little sleep. That was it. He hadn't slept and his mind was playing tricks.

Or…

He tried to recall what he knew about the old Princess Zelda. Hadn't she been known to dabble in magic? She'd been a witch, Kaltern was sure of it. Had that been passed onto the daughter…?

He looked up. The two young Hylians were already at the top of the slope, the Shade not too far behind.

Captain Kaltern snarled and gave chase.

* * *

Zelda wrenched her wrist free from Colin's grasp. "You don't have to hold my hand!" she spat.

Colin threw a quizzical glance back at her. He hadn't heard her – obviously, given how their ears were plugged.

Over the rise of the hill they went, and into the woods. Snow clung to Zelda's clothes and slipped down the back of her neck making her wince.

A thick mist carpeted the forest floor, out of which sprouted a strange looking rock. An eye had been carved into its face, complete with a hollowed out centre to mark the pupil. Zelda recognised it from her time with the Sisterhood.

 _That's a…that's a Sheikah symbol…_

The wind gusted – and suddenly their protective rags flew from their ears.

"No!" cried Zelda. She tried to grab for one, lunging awkwardly, but the wind caught the cloth and tossed it to and fro. Her grasping fingers found cold, thin air. The rags fluttered away on the breeze.

Zelda spun around to Colin. He was backing away, his jaw slack. He didn't see the -.

"Colin!" she cried. "Look o-"

A yell followed and Colin tumbled back over a log that barely stuck out from the layer of fog. He fell into a snow drift; the impact shook it free, and both Colin and tumble of snow slid down into a clearing. Zelda chased down after him, snow flying from the heels of her boots, and skidded into a crouch at his side.

"M-My foot!" Colin said, teeth chattering. Zelda looked. The boy had landed awkwardly, his ankle trapped between the giant roots of a pair of long-since felled trees. Zelda tugged at his leg.

Nothing. He was stuck fast.

Zelda shook her head. "No, no, no, no."

Colin's reddened hand clutched her sleeve. "Go," he said. "Run."

Zelda shook her head again. "It's not right."

Leaves rustled, spilling their snowy burden. The Shade's music filled the clearing. Branches began to wither. Zelda inhaled sharply.

Colin levered himself up on his elbows. His teeth started to chatter. "I-I'm scared."

Zelda stared straight ahead, then spoke in a small, soft voice. "I'm scared, too."

* * *

The pain hit Captain Kaltern again just as he was about to follow the Shade into the woods. This time it brought him to his knees. Cold, wet snow seeped through to his legs, but he only noticed it as a slight irritation.

"What –" he gasped. "What is happening to me?"

The green glow engulfed him again. But this time there was something more. His eyes. His eyes burned.

Fear drove his heart wild. He tried to claw at his face but couldn't get close enough. His eyes were on _fire._

Three thoughts struck his pain-wracked mind as a scream tore from his throat.

 _Mya. Layle._

 _Destiny._

* * *

They could see it now. The Shade. It floated wordlessly, still accompanied by its ethereal music. Zelda's mind fogged over. Was that Captain Kaltern back there, leaning against a tree, face buried in his hands…? Was he weeping…? A scarlet grow spilled out from between the captain's fingers. Zelda's breath caught.

Her thoughts evaporated when the Shade's song increased in volume. A pair of trees shattered into dust before it. Then another, spitting splinters into snow that melted instantly as the Shade passed over it.

The whole world shook in Zelda's eyes. It was hard to think. Her thoughts seemed to be moving through tar. Hot, steaming tar, painful to the touch.

Zelda felt a tug at her sleeve. Slowly – ever, ever so slowly – she forced her head to look down.

"Please," whispered Colin.

"I'm here," Zelda replied. It seemed to take an age for the words to come.

"I don't want to die like this," said Colin. "Not to a Shade." His trembling eyes inched down to the dagger at her hip. "Please."

Zelda caught his intent. "No…" she gasped, her voice struggling to break free. Her every muscle protested, but Zelda forced herself to her feet. She faced the monster. Her eyes watered. Every blink burned.

The Shade now filled the entirety of her vision, a rippling purple-black nightmare. Its music drilled into her skull, and down into the aching roots of her teeth.

Colin's voice came again. " _Please!"_

Zelda's fingernails dug into her hip as she searched for her dagger. The air in the clearing grew hot. Her tongue felt like dry rock. Her fingers curled around something cold and metallic. She tugged it free.

 _Mirror._

She couldn't make more than that one thought. A pique of childish rage surged up into her arm. She pulled it back, and threw. The mirror spun through the air, over and over, agonisingly slow.

It hit the strange rock with the Sheikah symbol.

The music stopped.

Time returned.

A hush fell.

And a new voice pierced it.

"Pity," it said. "I always liked that mirror."

Zelda spun around.

A man enwrapped in a black cloak knelt in the mist. Strands of silver hair poked out from under his hood. He stood, snow falling from him in a drizzle of white. In one hand he clutched a silver pommel that held no blade.

Recognition hit Zelda like a slap. "Old Sloat?!"

The elder man looked over at the Shade. It had paused now, as though hesitating, its cloak-like form fluttering. Behind it, Captain Kaltern still hadn't looked up.

"It takes a Shade to defeat a Shade," said the stranger.

He flicked his wrist. Metal plates slid out from the hilt, impossibly folding out over the other until a full-length, perfectly flawless blade had formed. The steel turned pitch black. Crimson energy ribboned around the entire length of it, giving the sword a fiery red outline.

The stranger spoke again. "Takes a _Hero's_ Shade, to be exact. Old Sloat isn't my name, Zelda. Never was." The wind blew back his hood. He smiled. "It's Link. I'm the Hero of Time."


	8. Chosen

**8 - Chosen**

The Shade billowed outward, unfurling like sailcloth snared by a strong wind, and then it roared, a horrible, otherworldly shriek that stung Zelda's ears and made her stumble back, flinching.

 _How can it even do that?_ Zelda's mind screamed. _It has no mouth!_

The Shade swooped towards the swordsman. The man called Link reacted, blazing sword gripped in both hands. He swung. Snow flew from his black cloak. The air burned.

And the blade struck. It tore a glowing molten gouge from the Shade's left hip up to its right shoulder. Incandescent flecks flew from the wound. A scarlet hue bathed the entire clearing.

Zelda backed up against a tree, her eyes wide. The Shade, hissing, floated backward. Its hands formed fists.

 _Like…_ Zelda managed to think. _Like it's almost human_.

The Shade swung in with a right cross.

Link dropped his sword, then threw up both arms to form an 'X', trapping the monster's fist. He pulled. The Shade's headless torso rammed straight into Link's knee.

The Shade reeled, still bent at the waist. Link hooked the toe of his boot beneath the hilt of his sword and flicked it up. The blade spiralled into the air. Zelda cringed – afraid that he'd catch the burning end.

He didn't. The hilt landed in Link's palm. The Hero of Time drove the sword home. Air sizzled. Crackling scarlet light danced from the steel. And then the Shade gave one final, long sigh, as though deflating, then slowly, inch by inch, it turned grey from the top of its torso all the way down. The Shade dissolved into dust.

And just like that, it was all over.

Link lowered the sword. The steel folded back on in itself, crimson glow fading, until all that remained, once again, was a bladeless hilt.

Zelda blinked, her eyes readjusting to the natural light. The snow had completely melted from the whole clearing now, the air warm like a summer's day. She watched, her chest still heaving, as Link kicked the giant roots away from Colin. The boy scrambled back. His face mirrored the awe Zelda felt.

She had to say something. Anything.

"What happened to your stammer?"

She winced inwardly. _Not that, though!_

"You're so very welcome," said Link.

Zelda felt the heat rise to her face. "Um," she said. "Thank you. For helping with the Shade."

"Helping?" Link's quiet, gravelly voice had a note of amusement. "Not saving? As in, saving you from…?"

Zelda kept her mouth clenched shut. She'd hate to have to admit that someone had saved her. Admit out loud, at least.

Link smiled. "I don't stammer," he said. "But occasionally it's good to have people underestimate you. When I was younger – a _long_ time ago – I sometimes wouldn't say a word." He smiled again. "That unnerved a lot of people, let me tell you."

Something else nagged at Zelda now. "Why…" she said. "Why did you drop the sword? When the Shade attacked. You could have just finished it there."

Link sat himself down on a stump and said nothing. Only the croak and buzz of the forest wildlife punctured the silence. Zelda looked at him properly now, saw the lines on his face, the grey in his hair. Her boldness grew.

"You were showing off."

One corner of Link's mouth turned up in a half-smile. "Teaching," he replied. "You wanted to learn. So, learn."

Zelda blinked. "Learn…?"

"You summoned me," he explained. "At my descendant's grave."

The pit of Zelda's stomach fluttered. _It's him. It's really him._

Colin looked from Zelda to Link. "I don't…what's going on?" His eyes stopped on the Hero. A bird warbled in the distance. "You look like – just like-

The Hero waved a gloved hand in patience. "Out with it, son."

Colin just blinked.

The Hero turned his head slightly toward him. "You knew _a_ Link. He is not me, and I am not him."

Zelda felt the tension seep from her shoulders. Link's voice was so…calming.

It didn't seem to have the same effect on Colin, though. He slowly shook his head. "Link wasn't a monster," he shot back. "You said you were a Shade. They're all monsters."

"I am the Hero's Shade," Link replied. "Or so I'm led to believe. And we're not all monsters, boy. Cursed, yes. But I am no monster."

Colin's eyes fluttered in confusion. "So you're another Link?" he said. "That makes no sense"

It struck Zelda just then. _Descendant._

Her jaw dropped. "You're the…the _Legendary_ Hero!"

"Quite right," Link replied. "I forget. The Hero of Time is…well, it's not what I'm remembered by."

"And you're still alive…?"

"That's the curse, girl," said Link. "To live an unnaturally long life. A Shade isn't free until his work is done. All the Shades each have a task to fulfil."

Colin glanced back at the pile of ash now scattered across the clearing floor, the early morning breeze having already got to work.

Link saw the look, and shrugged. "Yes, well, I don't know about that one. I _do_ know its magic can't affect me. When we fight, it's the old fashioned way. With fists and steel."

He pulled free the hilt that he'd hung to his belt. With a flick of his wrist, the blade unfolded again, the steel turning inky black. This time there was no scarlet glow. He drove the point of his sword into the hard ground, then rested both his hands on the pommel.

"You're showing off again," said Zelda. Link conceded the point with a slight nod. Her lips twitched with amusement.

"How does it even _do_ that?" asked Colin.

"A good question," Link replied. "One that I'm disinclined to answer quite right now."

"Huh?"

Zelda bit her lower lip to stop from giggling. "He means he doesn't know."

Link's eye twitched. "Yes, alright, I don't know how it works," he admitted. "I found this blade in the Ether. Or it found me. I forget which."

Zelda inhaled deeply, gaze fixed on the Hero. "You were Old Sloat all along," she said. "Telling stories about the Hero's Ghost."

"And I've been teaching you all along," Link replied, cocking his head to one side. "Well, ever since you asked, that is."

Thoughts ran through Zelda's head. "The inn…" she breathed. "With Captain Kaltern."

Link nodded.

 _The captain…_

Zelda turned suddenly to where she'd last seen the Calatian soldier – but there was nobody there, just the entrance to the woods, jealously guarded by gnarled trees with hooked branches.

Gold flashed, catching the corner of her eye, and she turned back. Link had pulled a coin from within the folds of his cloak.

"And this," he said. "Remember this…?"

 _Beggars Alley..._

"That was you..." Zelda breathed. "But I thought I saw you – saw Old Sloat - sleeping."

"You thought. That doesn't mean it actually was."

Zelda's mind wandered back to the memory. "Hold fast to patience," she said. "That's what you told me."

Link nodded. "It is."

"Patience." Zelda's eyes narrowed. "So that's why you made me wait?"

Link blinked, taken aback. "Excuse me…?"

"You took your sweet time getting here!"

Link bristled. "Do you see any wings sprouting from my back, girl?" he growled. "Am I supposed to be a fairy now?"

Zelda snorted. Even when spewing barbs, the Hero's voice held no hostility.

 _The Hero!_ Her heart skipped with joy for a moment. _Alright, he's not the Hero I was after, but still!_

"Task," said Colin. "You said you had a task."

Link, calm again, turned his way. "That's right, yes."

"What was yours?" Zelda asked.

"Mine…" His eyes took on a faraway sheen. "Well, there was a time - a long time – where I believed it was just me and her against the world. And then she sent me back –"

Link blinked, then quickly cleared his throat. Zelda and Colin exchanged puzzled glances.

The Hero spoke on. "I thought my task was to pass on everything I knew to your Link. I was wrong. I helped your Link, and still I wasn't freed from the Ether -"

"The Ether," said Zelda. "What's the Ether?"

"Don't. Interrupt," Link growled. "I swear, you young people have no manners at all."

 _So old-fashioned,_ Zelda thought. _But I could tell that just from the way he talks._

"The Ether." Link tapped one finger against his sword's pommel. "Some call it the Ghostly Ether. It's the barrier between life and death, between this world and the true Etherworld where all go to be judged."

A soft gasp left Zelda's lips. "The Etherworld," she whispered. "It's real…"

Link caught her words. "And I long to be rid of this life so I can enter it," he said. "But only after I've left a lion or two behind." He smiled. "Or a lioness."

Zelda smiled back. She felt so comfortable in his presence.

"The Ghostly Ether is where I taught your Link," he went on, "though he never saw me like this. I could take on many forms, you see. A Golden Wolf. A skeletal warrior with a single eye."

 _Showing off again…_

"You like to impress."

"I did," he conceded. "Only because I believed I'd been forgotten. Now I know - and you should know - that it's better to _be_ the Hero than to be the memory of one."

Link held her gaze for a moment more, then bowed his head. "So, here I am Zelda, blood of my blood. Here I am, at your service."

* * *

A chill gnawed at Auru's bones, and it had nothing to do with the cold outside. He eyed the two Shade that glided silently in the gap where a wall had once stood in their makeshift headquarters. It was, of course, the same place they'd held Colin and Zelda. In fact, he was sitting in the same chair she'd been tied up in hours earlier.

 _Zelda. It was her. Really her._ The worried knot in his heart turned black. _And now I've doomed her. Stuck here while Kaltern takes a Shade to try and track her down._

He only hoped the Resistance had found her first. He couldn't even send a message, not with these two Shade here.

Auru frowned. The Shade had just stopped, turning to face –

He shot to his feet as Captain Kaltern staggered back into the building. Hunched over and wheezing, the captain dragged himself over and slumped down over the room's table.

"Sir…?" said Auru, eyes wide.

Kaltern dug his fingernails into the table. Woodchips burst free from the pressure. He looked up.

And Auru stepped back, his breath catching. "Your eyes…" he gasped.

 _Not just that,_ Auru thought. _His face…his whole face has changed._

"What?" the captain snarled. "What about them…?"

Auru stared at the Calatian's face. _This can't be…_

"Get me a mirror," Kaltern barked.

"A mirror…?"

"Don't you shave, man?" he spat. "Get me your damn mirror."

Auru left the room to find his things, his mind whirling. _Rusl. I have to get word to Rusl._

Returning with the mirror, Auru found his hand trembling when he presented it to the captain. Kaltern snatched it, and brought it up to his face.

A gurgled cry left his throat. "This…this isn't my face…"

 _It's Link's. He looks just like Link, except for –_

"My eyes."

Stricken, Captain Kaltern looked over to Auru, his jaw working in wordless despair. The man's eyes had turned red. Not in a bloodshot manner, nor glowing like in a fairy story. No pupils, no whites, his eyes were just a pair of slick, crimson orbs.

Auru swallowed. "Sir…" he said, remembering his role. "Can you…can you see?"

"Of course I can!" Kaltern retorted. He sent the mirror hurtling across the room.

 _Right._ Auru shook his head. _A stupid question on my part._

But then, this wasn't a situation he'd ever prepared for.

"What," said the captain, "Has. Happened. To. My. Face?"

A bird squawked. They both looked up to see a flutter of black wings swoop into the room through the missing wall and then drop a scroll onto the table. Kaltern looked down at it. The King's seal marked it, and it was addressed to him.

Auru watched as the Calatian slowly picked the scroll up, broke the seal, unfurled it, then threw it over to him.

"Read it," the captain croaked.

"Me…?" said Auru. "But it's for you. From the Ki-"

" _Read it!"_

Auru cleared his throat, his eyes scanning the words. His chest tightened. Slowly, Auru began to read out loud. "Captain, I have chosen you," he said. "As his dark reflection."

"Whose?" Kaltern cut in. "Whose dark reflection?"

"It…it doesn't say. Sir."

"His Majesty gives me riddles!"

The captain closed his eyes for a moment, then motioned for Auru to continue. He nodded. "It appears," he read, "you have discovered Princess Zelda's secret. Her daughter."

"How?" said Kaltern. "How did His Majesty find out so quickly?" His scarlet eyes seemed to pulse with rage. He gestured at his face. "And why _this?!_ "

 _Good question,_ thought Auru. _A decade of opposing him, and we still know little on the nature of this Calatian King._

He grit his teeth. Too much was happening too quickly. He had to get back to the Resistance. But first he had to destroy this letter before Kaltern could –

The captain strode over and swiped the parchment from his hands. "What else?" he rumbled. "What else does it say?"

Auru stepped away, dismay sinking his heart.

"Do not question my commands, Captain," the Calatian read. "They are beyond the comprehension of you one such as you. Think of this as your destiny. And remember that your wife and daughter –" Kaltern paled. His trembling grip tightened around the paper. "Your wife and daughter are in my city, under my gaze, to do with as I wish."

Captain Kaltern looked up, his face pinched. "Why…?" he croaked. "I've been loyal. _Why_?"

Auru shook his head. "I…I don't know, sir," he said truthfully. He felt an odd twist of pity for the man.

Kaltern started to read. "Go find this girl…" He broke off, his expression pained. Venom slid into his voice. "I was doing that already, Your Highness."

Auru watched the Calatian captain force himself to look down at the final lines. "Go find this girl. Find her, slay her, and everyone with her. Bring me back her head."

* * *

Zelda blinked in surprise. "Blood…" she repeated. "Blood of _your_ blood?"

A smile danced in Link's eyes. "I'll wait until you fathom it out."

Colin beat her to it. He snorted. Then laughed. "No…" he said. "Link…our Link..? And Princess Zelda?"

For the second time that morning, Zelda felt her cheeks grow hot.

Colin giggled again. "But…but Ilia…and…and Midna…" He wheezed with laughter. "Princess _Zelda?!_ "

"I must admit," the Hero of Time sniffed. "I didn't think he had it in him, either."

Back still pressed against a tree, Zelda slowly slid down to sit at its base. Leaves disturbed loose by her motion followed her down. She sucked in the cold, morning air.

Zelda had to untangle her feelings on this. At the moment, she just felt…what? Numb? Bewildered...?

 _My head hurts…_

She had long since accepted being the daughter of a princess. It had so little impact on her life that she really didn't care. But this -

"I guess," said Colin, still grinning. "I guess this makes you…my niece."

" _What?_ " Zelda spat. "No, it doesn't!"

"But," Colin protested. "Link was like a brother to me. So -"

"It really doesn't," said the Hero dryly.

Fed up, Zelda decided it was time to change tack. "Colin," she said. "Tell me about the weapon."

Heeding the serious tone in her voice, Colin quickly composed himself. "Um," he said. "Right. Sure." He readied himself with a deep breath. "It's not really a weapon. Not like a sword, or even a cannon. It's a scroll."

Zelda frowned. "A scroll?"

"A spell," Link said simply.

Colin snapped his fingers. "That's it. That's it exactly. A dark magic spell that Shad discovered and deciphered all by himself."

 _Oh right,_ thought Zelda. _That's why the Resistance respect Shad so much._

"It can only be recited directly," Colin explained. "And in the place you want it to be used. It can't be memorised. Some...some sort of enchantment prevents it."

"What does it do exactly?" asked Link.

"It - it manipulates the weather. Calls down terrible storms. Cyclones of fire that burn buildings. Lightning that tears up the ground." He swallowed, as though lost in a memory. "And people…" He glanced back at the Shade's remains. "It leaves no trace."

Zelda drew her legs up and hugged her knees. She felt a momentary shiver.

"If you're standing near the spellcaster, you're protected," said Colin. "But even when it's done, it still plays all sorts of havoc."

Zelda blinked, then looked skyward. "This snow...?"

Colin nodded. "They...we debated if we should even use it. We had it in our hands. The chance to finish it, and we…we…"

"Hesitated," said Link. "Admirable. Somewhat."

"Let me guess," Zelda cut in, her voice carrying a sour note. "Ashei convinced you all."

"No." Colin shook his head. "It was Da. He said he'd cast the spell, so he alone would live with the consequences. We even prepared. Told the Hylians in Castle Town to all run - that was the truth. They knew us there, most of them, and trusted us."

Colin took a short breath before he spoke again. "Ashei, though...she didn't like it. Said her own father had taught her better than that. In the end -" His words died as his face grew taut.

"What?" Zelda snapped.

Link glanced at her, disapproval on his face.

Colin's eyes glistened. "Please," he blurted. "You have to understand. The Calatians murdered Mother. We both saw it happen in front of us."

"Lara..." Zelda said quietly. "Your sister recited the spell."

Colin closed his eyes for a moment and sighed deeply. He gave a slow nod. "Once we saw what the spell could do...well, that was enough to convince Ashei. It horrified her, sure. But then –then…"

"Death loses its impact," Link finished in a quiet voice. "Once you see so much of it. Killing becomes so easy."

"Now she saw what Da saw." Colin looked up, his eyes sad. "A real chance to end to this occupation. End the Calatians. For the greater good."

"The greater good," said Link, a bitter tilt to his voice. "For queen – or king – and country. Years pass, and still people stay the same."

"So," Zelda said softly. "It wasn't a test. Or a message. It was -"

"Lara," Colin replied. "Just Lara."

Birds sang in greeting to the still rising sun. The three of them were alone with their thoughts for a long while.

"They're going to take the scroll to the Royal City in Faron," said Zelda at last. "Right...?"

"If they give up on finding you," Colin replied, glancing back toward Castle Town as though the Resistance would appear at any moment. "Then that's their plan."

His eyes flicked up, as though noticing the morning light for the first time. "In fact, they've probably set off already. News about Castle Town will spread. They don't have the luxury of time."

Zelda had made up her mind. "I'm going to stop them."

Colin started. "And then…?"

"Then…?"

"What about the King and the Calatians?" he said, his voice strained. "You're just going to let them _win_?"

"I…I don't know." Zelda took a shaky breath. "I just...there has to be a better way than to wipe them all out." She gave him a pointed look. "I thought you were on my side, anyway?"

Colin swung around to face Link. "What do you think?"

"Zelda has summoned me," he replied. "I go where she goes."

Colin marched up to him, hands balled into fists. "You're going to take orders from her?" he said. "She's just twelve."

"I've taken orders from younger than her, son. And what's wrong with being twelve? I was twelve once."

Colin stopped, confused. "And…what happened?"

"And I gave it up after a year, what do you _think_ happened?"

Zelda laughed. It felt good. Colin, after a momentary scowl, gave a sheepish grin as well. The tension had burst between the three of them. There was something about the Hero, something subtle that Zelda couldn't quite grasp.

"To Faron, then," she said softly. "To stop the spell."

Colin sighed in resignation. "Just the three of us?"

Link stood. "Sometimes only one is chosen," he said. "Today it's three."

"Chosen..." Colin repeated. "To Faron we go. Straight into the Calatian nest."


	9. The First Principle

**9\. The First Principle**

The further south they ventured, the road to Faron taking them past the glittering waters of Lake Hylia and over rickety wooden bridges that crossed gurgling streams in the grassy plains of Hyrule Field, the more the land bore the marks of the Calatian occupation.

Towns, villages and even just solitary houses puffing white smoke from squat chimneys greeted them on their winding path; places that Colin assured her hadn't even existed a decade ago. Aside from soldiers, Zelda had seen very few Calatians back in Kakariko, but now she encountered more and more; their faces long and angular with wider eyes and rounder ears than a Hylian's.

 _They seem so…ordinary._

And yet, wariness lurked in her heart. Back in Castle Town Colin had gone back to the bar where the Resistance had made their home. As expected, they'd already left. But Colin had found something else on his trek back, a fluttering parchment in amongst the ruins.

It was a letter from Captain Kaltern, a declaration of a three hour amnesty for any Hylian in Castle Town before the captain would arrive to deal out the King's justice.

"See?" was all Colin could say, the parchment clutched in his trembling fist. " _See?_ Three hours!"

The injustice of it all had burned Zelda's heart, too. She had had to steady her thoughts. It had been hard, but some part of her mind had recoiled from her anger, afraid that it would forever darken her soul. Colin, though, had fallen into a seething silence. Zelda hoped he wasn't going to change his mind about helping her.

And now, as the trio trudged through a field of Hylian Poppies near a small town, each and every Calatian they passed just fuelled Colin's agitation.

"Soon," he muttered. "There'll be more of them than us."

Zelda looked out at him from her hood. They all wore one now, to better hide their Hylian features. "What was the Resistance's answer to that?" she replied in a low voice. "Chase them all the way back to Calatia? Wipe them all out with the spell?"

The look on Colin's face told her the answer. Zelda pursed her lips. "Seeing what they did to Castle Town really didn't put them off."

"Castle Town showed them the fairy was out of the bottle. Now they had to go all the way or else they'd look weak."

Zelda shook her head in confusion. "Who cares about looking weak?"

"A great many people, sadly," Link said from behind them. His voice darkened. "And a great many people die as a result."

"It's not like that," Colin replied, irritated. "We need to show we're still alive and kicking. It's not a crime to remember that _we_ were the victims, you know. They invaded us. They're the ones that gave Da nothing to live for."

"Blame them," said Link, "or just their King?"

Colin shrugged. "They do whatever the King says."

"Most people do," Link replied dryly, "if they're fond of keeping their heads."

"Look," said Colin. "If they all decided to pack up and leave today, then we'd be fine with that. It won't heal anything, but at least it'll be peaceful. But peace isn't a word they understand."

Zelda motioned for them to stop. The scent of the poppies made her nose twitch, and the flowers themselves, with petals rich with a dark maroon hue were simply gorgeous. She crouched, smiling, watching the mid-afternoon breeze tickle the long, green stems.

When they'd first entered the field, Zelda had, on a whim, plucked a poppy and threaded it into her hair so that the claret petals peeked out from under the hood. Link had simmered with silent disapproval - they'd passed signs on their way in saying the flowers were not to be touched. It was just a flower, though – not like she'd been stealing the King's gold again.

Now Link cut an imposing figure as he stood, arms folded, and looked out into the distance. "There's a longing in a person's heart," he said softly. "One they don't even realise is there."

Anyone would've thought that he was reflecting to himself, but Zelda knew better now. He'd been making these cryptic little comments ever since they'd left Castle Town. They were meant to teach her something, and for the life of her, Zelda couldn't figure out what.

 _I'd rather we got to the good stuff,_ she mused. _Like swordplay. And staying calm in the face of the enemy._

Colin addressed the Hero. "Um, hey," he said, running a nervous hand through his hair. "You're old, right?"

Link cocked a grey eyebrow. "It's called experience, lad."

"That's what I meant," Colin said quickly. "You've been there. You know what it's like…so I just wanted to know - what made you take that first step on the way to glory?"

Link gave a short, harsh and dismissive laugh. "Glory!" he snorted. "That's not the reward you get, son. Blood on your hands and sorrow in your heart. If you don't end up dead."

"So...why bother?"

Link sighed, pensive as he looked into the distance again. "Why did I bother that very first time?" he said. When Colin nodded, Link went on "There's some instinct in a man's mind, lad," he said. "That, when faced with a beautiful girl who's desperate and scared, just wants to rescue her from her misery."

Zelda stood up and looked at the both of them: the Hero with his faraway look, and Colin, mesmerised, wearing a stupid, dreamy grin.

 _Ugh. I'm putting a stop to this._

"So what happens if she isn't beautiful?"

They both spun around to her and gave her a sharp "Shh!" in chorus. Zelda just shook her head and sighed.

"That town over yonder," Link said, motioning with his hand. "We need some supplies for the last leg of our journey."

"Great," Colin muttered. "Let's give the Calatians our money. They've taken everything else."

Link ignored him. "Good thing you share a common tongue now," he said. "It makes things much easier. Though, have to admit, I do know a smidge of Old Calatian."

"Actually," said Colin. "I've learnt a bit, too."

"Really?" said Link.

Colin nodded. "Da said we should know everything about them," he said. "This might impress the locals." He puffed out his chest. " _Masdub yajeal masdat tazatan liqurd_."

Link looked at him for a long moment. "The fondue cucco makes excellent fertiliser for a rabid monkey?" he said. "I don't really see how that's relevant, lad."

Colin scowled, and Zelda grinned. She felt a sudden surge of for love the two of them, glad that to have them both with her. The feeling deepened - towards the Hero, at least - when she remembered he was her -

 _Well, what? Great ancestor? Great-great-great ancestor? All so confusing._

Zelda decided instead to look ahead to the next stage of their plan. The Resistance may have had a head-start, but they were greater in number and so, according to Link, they'd have more supplies to carry and be moving at a slower pace. They'd all cross paths well ahead of the Royal City.

Doubt tarred her heart. Colin had told her that this town they were entering marked the last outpost before they'd reach the City. If they were to intercept the Resistance, they were cutting it awfully close.

The three of them joined the ebb of people bustling along the main thoroughfare of the town. Street vendors – some catering to a huge crowd, others with just the custom of one or two - stood on either side. The scent of ripe fruit and sizzling meat filled the air.

Link peeled away from the chattering crowd, veering off to one side. Zelda and Colin exchanged puzzled frowns, then with a shrug decided to follow.

They found him stood beside a Calatian, sour-faced and downcast, who stirred a ladle in a huge, steaming metal vat. A clear, but fragrant liquid sloshed within. This seller seemed to be one of those with fewer customers.

Link breathed in deeply, a grin flashing from inside his hood. "That smells simply delectable," he said. "Could I have a bowl?"

The miserable-looking Calatian vendor merely nodded. He scooped out some of the liquid and ladled it into an earthenware bowl. The spicy scent flooded their senses.

Zelda watched, confused. The vendor watched as well, warily from the corner of his eye as the Hero took a sip.

"Mmm," Link said. He took some more. " _Mmm_!" he repeated, nodding.

The Hero meant it, too, or at least the soup seller clearly thought so - his face lit up, misery chased away by a genuine smile. Link offered the bowl to Colin and herself; Colin shook his head, but Zelda could never turn down the chance for some food.

Steam struck her face as she brought the hot bowl to her lips. An explosion of smoky, spicy flavour hit the back of her throat and made her cough. Strings of soft meat stuck between her teeth.

"It's good," she said, handing Link the bowl back.

Link gave the seller a gold coin - the one Zelda had given him in Beggars Alley - and the still smiling Calatian handed a number of silvers in return. Link palmed one back. "For your excellent efforts."

The soup seller's grin widened. He shook his head. "Keep it," he said, gently folding Link's fingers back over the coin. "That you enjoyed the food is enough."

Link bowed his head slightly, then turned to Zelda and gave her four silvers. "Over there," he said, pointing through the crowd to a small shop. "Some bread, please."

Colin eyed the coins. "I remember when we used to use rupees..."

"Here," Link said. "Go fill up our water pouches. There's a good lad."

"What'll you be doing?" Colin asked.

Link sat himself down on a nearby crate. "Waiting here." He held up the bowl "I need to finish this."

"Sure," Zelda muttered as she walked off. _What was the point of all that? To get some change?_

She pushed open the door to the shop. A bell tinkled, and cool air met her face; refreshing, after that hot soup. The murmur of the crowd outside softly faded as the door closed. Inside, a few Calatians browsed the shelves stocked mainly with food. They didn't pay any attention to Zelda.

She approached the counter where a man and woman sat.

"That's a pretty flower, miss," the woman said, first glancing up at Zelda's hood, then throwing the shopkeeper a sour, sideways glance. "Wish someone would get me one of those once in a while."

Zelda pushed the silver across the wooden counter. "Bread, please."

"Sure thing, sweetie," the woman replied. "Your parents waiting outside?"

"Uh," Zelda said. _Sort of,_ she thought, remembering her ancestry. "Yes." She smiled and nodded for added emphasis.

The counter shook slightly as another customer dumped a pile of goods onto it. "Alright, boss," a Calatian man said. "Count 'em up."

"Boss?" the shopkeeper growled. " _Boss?_ Don't use that Hylian slang in here. It's uncouth. I swear, the King needs to start flaying tongues just to stop it spreading."

Zelda looked up quickly at the heat in the shopkeeper's voice. Her breath caught. The man loomed behind the counter, raw hatred burning in his eyes.

Zelda wanted to shrivel away in some dark corner. A sudden pang of loneliness stung her. The Calatians present were staring at her, she was certain of it now, their eyes, judging and contemptuous, drilling into the back of her head.

 _They know. They know I'm Hylian. I'm not safe, I'm –_

"Leave it, Jak," the woman said, giving the shopkeeper a playful slap on the shoulder. "You're spooking the little miss."

Zelda snapped out of her reverie. Her heart began to slow down.

The shopkeeper gave her a sheepish look. All of a sudden he didn't look so frightening.

"I'm not saying any of _us_ need their tongue flaying," he reasoned. "It's those Hylians. If I ever meet one, I'd like to shake some gratitude into him. They need reminding that it was us that brought them civilisation."

"Only after their princess turned the King down."

"That's proof enough," said Jak. "If she'd had any sense, she'd have said yes. Then we'd have helped them peacefully like we all wanted. You just can't reason with a Hylian, Mel. You have to beat it into them."

"You're a brute, Jak," Mel replied, shaking her head.

"What?" Jak protested. "I bet half of everyone in here agrees with me."

The lines around the woman's eyes grew taut. " _All_ of everyone in here wants you to just hurry up serving this man so they can get on with their day."

Grumbling under his breath, the shopkeeper returned to his duties. Mel turned to Zelda and flashed a smile. It melted her unease clear away.

"Here's your bread, miss." She handed it over, and then leaned in quickly. She whispered. "Your hood's dropping."

Zelda sat up with a start, heart lurching. She pulled her hood up. The Hylian Poppy fell from her hair. Instinct made Zelda scoop it up and present it to the woman.

"Here," said Zelda. "Thank you."

Mel gasped. A wide grin followed, brightening her face. "Thank _you_ , miss."

Link still sat waiting for her when she left the shop. Colin hadn't yet come back, so Zelda slowly threaded her way through the crowd. People brushed past her, voices buzzing, and Zelda felt a nudfeof unease – the last time she'd been in a marketplace full of people had ended up with a flight from fire. This time, though, she made it through without incident.

Link, empty bowl perched on the crate next to him, wore a neutral expression as he absently batted aside buzzing flies.

"Well?" he said when she reached him.

Zelda's eyes flicked over to the soup seller. He was whistling a happy tune now.

 _I get it now._

"Kindness," she said.

Link arched an eyebrow, and motioned for her to continue.

"People long to be treated kindly," she said. "And with compassion. It's the longing that you mentioned. The one they don't even realise is there."

"Quite so," Link replied. "Congratulations. You've learned the First Principle of the Noble Path. Now, all you have to do is act accordingly."

The sights sound and smells of the town faded away in her awareness. Zelda nodded slowly. "The First Principle," she repeated. "So, what's the second?"

Link smiled at her as he stood up. "Zelda," he said. "There is no second."


	10. A Song in the Night

**10\. A Song in the Night**

Colin shuffled closer to her in the small cavern they were now in. "Hey," he whispered. "Listen."

Zelda turned her face away, hugged her knees as she sat, and looked out of the hollow, seeing the night sky stretched overhead, punctured only by the twinkling sprinkle of stars. Burrowed into the foot of a hill in Hyrule Field, they'd decided that this cavern would be a safe place to camp for the night. A fire crackled before them.

Zelda shifted slightly to glance at the Hero. Link, half his face in shadow, sat cross-legged, silent and unblinking, still as a stone statue. She stared. He didn't seem to ever sleep.

Colin noticed the direction of her gaze. "He's a strange one, isn't he?" he said. "The Link I knew wasn't like this."

"He knows things," Zelda could only reply.

 _Like what was happening in that Calatian shop. And what I said at the Hero's tomb…_

"So," Colin persisted. Zelda sensed he was eager to get back to his original point. "Hey." He readied himself with a deep breath. "Listen, I'm sorry if you were upset."

Now she did turn his way. "Upset…?"

"You know," he replied. He flexed and unflexed his fingers. "About what I said in Castle Town. About…being more than friends."

"Oh."

Zelda relaxed. It made a change from Colin dropping surly hints about how bad the Calatians were, how they shouldn't even be here, and how it wouldn't really be so bad if the Resistance got their way.

It hurt her head. Colin was right about the Calatians not belonging in Hyrule – at least, not by invading. She just didn't know what could be done instead. What Zelda _did_ know was that the Resistance's plan would make things worse. Even she could see that just killing the King wouldn't make each and every Calatian pack up and leave.

 _They'd just hate us more. And they'd want revenge._

"Um," Colin said. He'd been staring at her in silence for a few long moments and Zelda didn't like it. "So. Have you…I mean… have you thought about it all?"

She hadn't, and felt her irritation rise. "I think you'd probably like someone your own age, Colin."

"It's just that you're a princess," he explained. "And…and a hero needs his princess."

 _Nice. Is that why he stuck around? To win me as his trophy…?_

Zelda bit down on a sharp reply. _The First Principle._

"Well," she said, forcing a smile. "I hope you find her, then."

The fire sighed with a hiss and a pop, all the louder now they'd both lapsed into silence. Zelda gazed at the dancing flames, not wanting to see the disappointment she knew would be lining Colin's face. Her own visage grew warmer the more she kept staring.

"Colin," she said at last in a quiet voice.

"Yes?" he replied. The hope in his voice made her wince.

"Tell me about you." She looked at him, saw the slight frown ripple over his features. "What do you like…?"

Colin mulled over this for a moment. "My sword and shield," he said. "I got them after the Twili invasion. I practise with them."

"Don't you like anything apart from wanting to fight…?"

Colin shrugged. "It's all I've known."

"What about before…? Before all the invasions…?"

"I was teased a lot," he replied. "So it wasn't much fun."

Zelda studied his face for a long moment. Colin didn't seem to like the silence.

"It wasn't everyone who did it," he said. "Link didn't. And Ilia. She was a friend, back in Ordon."

A swell of pity turned Zelda's voice soft. "Why were you teased, Colin?"

He looked away. "I wasn't brave," he said. "Or strong. But look at me now. I'm both. Here, let me show you something…"

Grinning, he extended his left leg and pulled free a scrap of parchment that he'd hidden in his boot. It was notched with marks.

"That sword and shield I got?" he explained. "This is how many Calatians they've killed." He waved the paper. It rustled. "No one will be teasing me now, I bet."

Zelda blinked, surprised. "You've…"

Colin's enthusiastic nod made Zelda look away. She felt cold melancholy drape her heart, and she couldn't quite tell why. Colin the killer…? For all his bluster, it just didn't suit him.

"Twelve kills," Colin went on, oblivious to her mood. "I know it's not much, but there's plenty of time."

"Plenty," she replied, her voice blank.

"Maybe you'll get a few as well."

 _I've got two,_ she said, remembering the night at her mother's tomb. _All because I thought I'd be walking the Hero's path._

Zelda looked out at Hyrule Field, at the grass swaying under starlit sky – and then sat up all of a sudden. A tremor ran through her heart - she'd just caught the hint of a faint sound.

Colin hadn't noticed. "Well, hey," he tried again, "Listen."

They both jumped when Link suddenly stuck his face in between them. "I'm listening, Navi." He turned to Colin. "You don't mind if I call you Navi, do you, lad?"

Colin frowned. "What?"

"Quiet!" Zelda hissed, gesturing frantically with one hand. "Both of you!"

Her ears pricked up. Music. It floated through the night air, and Zelda felt her whole body tense up.

 _The Shade…_

"That's…" said Colin, slowly standing up. "I know that song."

Zelda gaped. "Colin! What are you doing? Sit down!"

A smile spread over his face. "It's the anthem of the Hylian Royal Family."

"I know it, too…" Link croaked. Zelda looked up at him. Sadness cloaked his face. "It's her lullaby."

 _Whose…?_

She had no time to consider with Colin already stumbling out of the cave mouth. Zelda scrambled to her feet.

"Wait," she called. "Colin!"

Anger flared in her heart. The boy was putting them all in danger!

Zelda sprinted after him, Link following at a more deliberate pace. Colin ran around to the other side of the hill. Zelda found him crouching behind a boulder. She joined him, then took a peek herself. In the distance she saw the small Calatian town they'd left earlier in the day, nothing more than a hive of distant lights now.

Heading that way were a group of people – children as well as adults – all humming as they slowly walked in a stately procession. Lanterns lit their way, clutched by the younger ones. Soldiers encircled them, pushing and jabbing with spears, but the singers seemed to just shrug it all off.

"They're Hylians," said Colin. "The singers."

" _Hyruleans,_ " Link corrected when he joined them. "I can see a Goron there, and a Zora, too."

"What are they doing?" Zelda asked.

"They're showing their opposition," Colin replied, a hint of pride in his voice, "to the occupation." His tone darkened. "Even with those Calatian gits badgering them."

Just as the words left his lips, one of the soldiers stuck out a foot. A Hylian child went sprawling into the grass and dirt. The lantern spilled from his hand.

A chorus of throaty chuckles came from the assembled soldiers. A Zora, anger glittering in her black eyes, helped the sniffling child back up. With a nod to one another, the Calatians began prodding even harder. The steel tips sliced clothes and brought angry welts to the skin. Muffled cries rang out.

Colin almost shot to his feet, but Link pushed him straight back down. "Not so fast, hero," he said. "You'd be torn apart."

Colin hissed. "So we do nothing then?" he spat. "Have I joined a bunch of cowards?"

"Simmer down, lad," said Link. "Anger makes you clumsy. An easy target."

Zelda couldn't quite grasp it, either. "Should we be…kind to those soldiers?"

"You show kindness to an oppressor," the Hero of Time replied, "by preventing him from his oppression. Wait here."

Zelda heard a series of metallic clacks – and saw Link's sword slide out step-by-step. All black, and glistening even without the magical crimson glow, the Hero brought the blade to bear. With a flutter of his dark cloak, Link dived over the rock.

One of the soldiers, his grin showing his obliviousness to who approached from behind, thrust his spear toward one of the troupe, an elderly Hylian woman. Eyes downcast, she tried to ignore the harassment. This seemed to enrage the soldier – he drew back his spear, then stabbed -

And Link's sword slid in to block. The crack of steel rolled through the night air.

The Hyruleans stopped short, their song dying. Everyone looked up.

Snarling, the soldier pushed Link's blade aside. "What are you doing?" he cried. "Who are you?!"

The other soldiers adjusted their footing to face Link. They fanned out, slowly forming a circle, the fallen lantern casting light from the ground. The Hyruleans began to shuffle away. Zelda watched, wide-eyed, her heart in her tightened throat.

"Take him in," another Calatian said – the commanding officer from the sound of his voice.

All the spears turned towards Link. He glanced towards the singers, saw that they were at a safe distance, then flicked the wrist of his sword hand. The blade blossomed into fiery life, like a tongue of flame bursting a dragon's jaw. Shock made the soldiers stumble back. Some of them even whimpered.

"What are you waiting for?!" the commander snarled, a half-moon of scarlet light bathing his face. "He's one. We're five." His men hesitated. " _Attack!_ "

They hesitated again; Link feinted to the left- then two of them finally lunged in – one aimed at Link's flank, the other in front. The Hero swung, a crimson blur trailing the path of his blade. Both spears shattered as the sword cut through, burning splinters catching on the night breeze.

Wary again, the soldiers backed away. Black smoke rose from the sizzling remains of the spears. The commander stared, glowering.

A soldier wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He bounced on his heels, working up his courage. Link saw the movement and turned his way.

Then soldier drove his spear in. A second swung for Link's head in perfect time. The Hero ducked, but the tip of the first spear caught Link's shoulder, spinning him half around. Another grazed his stomach – Link barely dodging in time. The startled look in his eyes made Zelda's stomach leap.

Link dropped into a crouch, sword held out in his outstretched arm. The blade glowed, increasing in illuminance second by second. The soldiers stopped, perplexed. Colin and Zelda exchanged glances. They shrugged, confused as well.

And then, with a yell, Link spun out of the crouch in a complete circle. Scarlet light flashed. All the soldiers went hurtling up into the air and then crashed back down into the ground.

Colin's jaw dropped open. Zelda gasped, then grinned.

"He's…Colin said, his voice hushed. "He's like a…"

"Legend," Zelda finished.

But neither one of them saw the Calatian commander quickly push himself back onto his feet. Nor did Link.

An elbow to the back of the neck brought the Hero to his knees. The commander, breathing heavily, now loomed over the Hero.

Colin clutched Zelda's sleeve in fear. She swallowed. Her heart felt like a block of ice. She saw Link glance over to something in the distance. Following his gaze, Zelda realised exactly what – the Hyruleans. They had fled, and were far away already, their lanterns pinpricks in the dark.

The surrounding soldiers closed in on Link. Zelda saw him grip his sword's hilt tighter. And then the blade shot straight up, Link pivoting gracefully back up to his feet –

Darkness fell over Zelda's eyes. She panicked, struggling, and opened her jaws to cry out. As soon as she did, something was stuffed into mouth.

From his muffled cry, she could tell that Colin was in trouble, too. Her two sides squeezed tightly in pain.

 _Rope!_ she realised. They were being tied up! She kicked, but something - some _one_ – held her legs down. Warm air fluttered through the fabric covering her head.

Captain Kaltern's voice followed. "Well, hello there, little princess," he said. "My, have we missed you."


	11. Caught

**11\. Caught**

Only one Calatian soldier remained.

Sword gripped in both hands, Link adjusted his footing, and met the gaze of his opponent. The Calatian was young, and his green-liveried tunic clung to him, stiff with sweat.

"You've lasted this long," said Link. "Impressive."

"I d-don't run," came the reply.

The Calatian's eyes darted around, taking in his fallen companions, some conscious and groaning, others not. Stark against the backdrop of the night, the Hero's ethereal blade cast a shimmering crimson glow over their faces. It made the soldier look even more desperate.

 _If you're so scared, boy,_ Link mused. _Why stay?_

Grass crumpled under Link's boot. He could lower his sword as a gesture of peace, but the young soldier would probably rush in with a reckless attack. Such was the way of the young, and this one's fidgety movements didn't inspire the Hero with much confidence of him being an exception.

Link stopped himself from shaking his head. How _is this boy even the last man standing…?_

A whistling breeze blew, and the fabric of their tunics rustled. The Calatian tensed. Link's eyes narrowed. The spear darted in, the soldier jabbing hard, but Link swatted the blow side. Steel bit into wood with a thud, then parted with a hiss of magical energy.

 _Too long._ _Taking too long._

Link glanced over to the boulder behind which Zelda and Colin had hidden. It stood deserted now. He had to finish this.

"Old," Link muttered, shifting into a looser stance. His wounds, though slight, still stung. "Too old, Navi."

The young soldier took a step back and frowned. "What?"

"No one should live this long."

This was a fight that, in his younger days, Link would have finished quickly, no matter the numbers.

Puzzlement made the Calatian soldier hesitate, the grip on his spear slackening – and Link took his chance and pounced, sword thrusting. The soldier – surprisingly – still had his wits, spinning away, cloak aflutter, and then aimed a jab for Link's head. Ducking, the Hero rammed his shoulder hard into the young man's chest. The soldier went sprawling.

Link stood, sword up, his eyes resting on his fiery blade. A thrum of energy ran tingling up his arms.

 _There. It's ready._

The Hero of Time slowed his breathing. He focused on his blade. The steel grew heavy, the power building. Groaning, the young soldier pulled himself back to his feet.

The tip of Link's sword flashed with a burning white light. The Calatian shook his head, gathered his wits and dived in. Steel slicing air, Link jumped over the hapless soldier, then landed in a crouch with one last downward slash that hit the ground. The sword hadn't touched the Calatian, but the _boom_ that rocked through the air sent him flying into unconsciousness.

Link let free a long, deep breath. The ribbon of scarlet energy around his sword dimmed, then faded clean away. Flicking his wrist, the Hero of Time sent the black steel sliding back into the hilt.

He finally stood alone.

* * *

Zelda swayed side-to-side in a darkness cloying and hot and tasting of cloth. The hood's fabric sucked into her mouth with every breath she took in, and all she could hear was the clop of hooves and the occasional snort from the horses carrying them.

"Colin?" she whispered.

"I'm still here," he replied instantly.

His muffled voice had come from somewhere to her left, and Zelda savoured the warm reassurance. She had to keep making sure. They were both on separate rides, and she didn't want their captors to part them further without them knowing.

Captain Kaltern seemed to know what she was up to, though. The horses were constantly made to switch sides, so that Zelda, disorientated, wouldn't know exactly where Colin was unless she asked.

Onward they went. Zelda's wrists were now bound with rope that prickled with a maddening itch. Hunger and thirst were beginning to claw at her. That was nothing. She was used to both. Being bound and blindfolded she wasn't.

The last grains of Zelda's patience ran out. She raised her voice. "Where are you taking us?"

She'd asked this one over and over since they'd been taken – how long had it been, an hour? More? - and had been met with a stony, yet significant silence. But this time Captain Kaltern surprised her by actually replying.

"Somewhere you won't like."

A muscle tightened in Zelda's chest. "The King."

Kaltern chuckled. "Not yet," he said. "And you can thank Auru here for that."

 _Auru's with us._ Hope glimmered in Zelda's heart. _That's something at least._ _If he'll help us, that is. He is with the Resistance_

"We will see the King, don't worry," the captain continued, pulling her from her thoughts. "Only because he has something of mine. And now I have you, something of his."

Zelda had to bite back an angry retort.

 _I am not property!_

Colin saved her from her outburst by asking a question of his own. "Something you want…?"

No answer.

Zelda thought she'd try, too. "What does he have of yours?"

Hooves beat against the ground. A nicker came from one of the horses. They weren't going to get an answer.

Zelda caught the sound of a stopper being uncorked and someone glugging down water. Her composure restored, she decided to ask another question.

"So," she said. "How did you even find us?"

"The Shade," the captain replied. "They're here, too."

Zelda felt herself shudder uncontrollably. She'd have asked for a fuller explanation, but didn't like the idea that the Shade were listening.

 _And that they can find me…_

She fought the urge to just topple back off the horse and make an escape. It wouldn't work, even with Auru there - not that he wouldn't have caught her and handed her over to the Resistance if he could. Zelda settled for a frustrated sigh, but all that did was heat up the hood with her own breath. Left alone with her thoughts, she felt her mind whirl from all the mystery.

At least now she had something new, and it would keep her from thinking of the Shade. Zelda ran the new knowledge through her head.

Captain Kaltern wanted to use her as a bargaining chip with his own King. What was going on?

 _And why?_

* * *

Dawn began to spread from the eastern horizon, tendrils of light filtering into the retreating night. A cool breeze blew over Hyrule Field, ruffling Link's silver hair as he peered down at the points were the Calatian spears had hit home on his skin. It wasn't too bad. Certainly nothing too deep, and they were beginning to scar over already.

A wry thought came to him. Another _dozen for the collection…_

Now he had to find Zelda.

"Sounds familiar," he said to himself.

The Hero of Time took a slow walk over to where he'd last seen the two young Hylians. He rubbed his chin in thought as the creeping sunlight revealed crushed grass and gouged up dirt. A struggle, then. And no blood – that meant they were both taken alive.

The notion made regret gnaw at his heart. Zelda could have been killed, and he'd been too busy fighting. The fact that she clearly hadn't been was of little comfort.

 _Caught in the thrill of battle – is that all I have left, Navi?_

"Old…" he said again.

The disturbed earth had left a hint of a trail that led to a pair of hoofprints. He had a direction, then. He could track them. Link began his trek, aware that they'd be moving faster since they were on horseback.

 _Who, though?_ he thought. _Who has her, and how did they find us?_

Someone who needed her alive, clearly. The Resistance, then? Had Colin betra-

Link heard the scuff of a boot at the very last moment. He whirled around, blade snapping out from its hilt and igniting instantly. The sword sliced through wood, cutting it cleanly in two. In the faint light Link spied the Calatian squadron commander stumble back, half a spear, smoking from where it had splintered, clutched in his hands. The other half - the one that still held the metal tip - lay on the floor.

The commander dived , and reaching it, his trembling hands pointed it straight at his own chest. He closed his eyes, muttering –

And with a swift kick, Link sent the spike spinning out from the Calatian's grasp. He then shoved the man flat onto his back.

"Don't," said Link, his voice dark. "Don't do that."

Snarling, the commander's eyes flew open. "Leave me be," he spat.

His face hard and grim, Link shook his head. He retracted his sword and crouched, his fingertips steepled, elbows resting on his knees.

"You deny me?" the commander spluttered. "You've defeated my men. You've defeated me. Let me die a true death. Give me that at least."

"Why?"

The Calatian commander bared his teeth. "Why? _Why?"_ He laughed. "So the shame of losing to a Hylian can be expunged, of course."

The Hero sighed "Winning. Losing," he said quietly. "Life is short enough, and you fill it with cares like this." He watched him for a heartbeat. "My name is Link. And you are…?"

The Calatian barked another short, harsh laugh. "I am not your friend. Do not even try it."

"Not friends, no," said Link. "But two people conversing. Names help."

The fallen man raised his chin in defiance. "Just let me have my honour."

"You, who have no honour, now demand it yourself?"

The commander glared, his chest heaving. "I have left my family and my home to come to this backwater and bring light to your darkness. I did not have to do that. My honour is self-evident."

"How noble," Link replied, a wry twist to his voice. "You're so clearly on the side of right."

The Calatian bristled, face aflush. "You rich Hylian scum have always treated us with disrespect. Our prince - _King_ \- offered your princess an olive branch, a proposal that she so arrogantly rejected. We knew then that something was wrong with you people."

"Knew?" said Link softly. "Or just needed to believe?"

"We have done Hyrule a favour," the Calatian insisted. "When have you ever done the same for us?"

The commander clenched his jaws shut and glared, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.

Link returned it with a cold, level gaze of his own. And held the gaze until, unnerved, the commander was forced to speak again.

"What's that look for?" His voice trembled. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Link said nothing, and that seemed to chafe the commander even further.

"Stop it!" he cried. "What- what, do you think you Hylians are better? Is that it? That your-your _Triforce_ and your _legends_ make you superior" His voice rose, braying. "Say it! Say you think you're better! I know you all think it!"

Link's lips tightened into a humourless smile. "Calatian. Hylian. I wasn't talking about either," he said, voice icy and quiet. "It must hurt."

The man's face began to shudder. "What must?"

"To be so utterly empty." Link curled one gloved hand into a fist. "You want to die? My friend, you've never truly lived."

A quick jab knocked the commander out. The sun rose over Link as he and his re-ignited blade turned the Calatian's swords and spears to smouldering piles of ash.

When he was done, Link looked off into the distance. He folded his arms.

"Well, Navi," he said. "It appears we have to go rescue the princess again. Are you with me?"

The only reply came in the lonely whisper of the wind. The Hero of Time hadn't expected anything less.


	12. The Deadfort

**12 – The Deadfort**

They had their hoods removed now and Zelda almost wished they hadn't, not with what faced them both now.

It had started off as a dark blot on the horizon, but as their swaying rides had drawn closer it had risen larger and larger in their eyes, seemingly growing out from a dry patch of dead grass on the edge of Hyrule Field, a huge dark citadel with slits for windows that belched black smoke from its tall, uneven towers.

"This will be your home for the next few days," Captain Kaltern said, riding in the lead. "You'll be put to work, of course."

Zelda's eyes shifted to the Calatian. Foreboding as the building they approached, it was nothing compared to the sheer terror of Captain Kaltern himself. Blood-red eyes, free of any pupils, rolled in a face that looked just like –

 _Just like Link's._

Neither she nor Colin had tried to ask. For all they knew, the captain had no clue about the Hero of Time's existence. Zelda reckoned she should keep it that way.

Colin, his face pinched with fear, sat behind the captain on the Calatian's mount. "What is this place?" he said, voice hushed.

Kaltern brought his horse to a stop. The steed snorted, shaking its head, the reins tinkling. The two Shade, one on either side of the small party, glided to a halt, too. Zelda sat astride Auru's mount. She peered out from behind him as the captain made a sweeping gesture with his arm.

"Welcome to the Deadfort," he said.

Zelda really didn't care about the name. "What happens in a few days?" she asked instead.

"Well," said the captain. "I've sent a bird to the King, explaining the situation - in a fashion - and asking for an audience. Once we get it – and I'm sure we will – we'll be on our way. It may be in a few days, it may be just an hour." He shrugged. "My horses and I need to rest. So, until we do so, to the Deadfort you both go."

Kaltern chuckled, then cocked his head to one side. "You hear that, Auru?" he said. "I have the hint of a poet in me." He turned to address Colin behind him. "Does that offend you, boy? I know you Hylians consider poetry a womanly art. If only you were as egalitarian as we Calatians."

Zelda saw Colin's eyes flash in annoyance. He opened his mouth to retort, but Auru cut him off.

"Very good, sir," he said. Auru kicked at his ride. "I'll take them in."

"No," said Kaltern, holding up a hand. "I will."

Auru froze, and the two men locked gazes. A chill fell, and Zelda bit her lower lip out of some instinct she didn't quite understand.

She glanced up – and only then realised why Auru had been the one chosen by the Resistance to infiltrate their enemy. He looked more Calatian, his Hylian features subtle.

 _Is he only part Hylian…?_

Whatever he was, Auru's stare held a barely contained rage that Zelda knew the captain would eventually question. She skewered the tension by speaking. "You still haven't told us what you want from the King," she said, looking at Kaltern. "And why you need us."

Captain Kaltern's scarlet gaze flicked past Auru to her. "Because you don't need to know."

He looked back at his companion and smiled. "Old friend," he said. "It's not that I don't trust you. I just need to make sure they're in. We do have some precious cargo, do we not, yes?"

The muscles in Auru's jaw twitched, but with a resigned bow of his head, he deferred to the Calatian. "Of course," he said. "I just didn't want you to be burdened."

"It's no burden." Captain Kaltern trotted his horse up alongside Auru's, then with both arms lifted Zelda off and sat her behind Colin on his own mount.

Zelda took one last look at Auru, and saw the stricken look in his eyes. She swapped glances with Colin, their expression reflecting what they both now knew.

 _We're on our own._

* * *

Captain Kaltern left them standing in the Deadfort's main chamber, a huge cavern of a room aglow with dancing orange light and awash with the roaring sound of a giant forge accompanied by the never-ending, rhythmic clang of hammers that struck hissing, molten metal.

The Deadfort was nothing more than a foundry, stifling and hot, manned by a shuffling line of Hylians with necks bent and bloodshot eyes, a line that Colin and Zelda now found themselves a part of.

Despite the size of the place, there was barely any room. People were packed almost shoulder to shoulder, the stench of sweat and decay strong. Zelda hated the closeness. It was suffocating. She heard them muttering under their breath, some whimpering, some pleading.

 _All broken._

In front of the forge sat a long table where tools and weapons were constructed from the liquid metal, then scurried away in squeaking wheeled carts.

A haze of burning smoke hung in the air, cloying, turning their skin slick with grimy perspiration, and filling Zelda's mouth with a heat that dried her tongue with every breath. Most of the toxic air floated up to the towers that sat perched on the cavern's marble-smooth and scorched black ceiling, gaping holes that led straight up to darkness.

Nauseous, her head spinning, Zelda felt like every minute they spent here was like a whole year. She shivered despite the heat. She just felt sick.

"New here, aren't you, petals?"

Zelda barely heard the voice over the noise. She looked up. An old woman with wispy grey hair, pockmarked skin, and missing a fair few teeth looked back at both her and Colin. Despite her appearance, the old woman's eyes held a kindly light.

But that wasn't what was unique about her.

"You..." said Colin, his eyes growing wide. "You're a Calatian!"

The woman chuckled. "Oh, don't look so shocked," she said as they all shuffled forward in the line. "And call me Hiru, flower."

His expression darkened. "So your own people did this to you."

He turned to Zelda, a self-satisfied I-told-you-so look on his face. She ignored him, and peered a little more closely at the woman instead. She wasn't actually old, Zelda realised. She just looked it.

 _What's the word…?_ Zelda mused. _Prematurely, that's it. Prematurely old._

A spray of sparks sizzled into the air near the forge. All three of them looked up, saw the Calatian foremen scurry and shout. In the confusion the hammers stopped their clanging beat, and the line halted. The noise dropped enough for Hiru to be able to lean in and be heard.

"No," she said. "Not the whole of my people. Just one."

"What happened?" asked Zelda.

"My," Hiru replied, amusement in her eyes. "We've only just met and you want my life story?"

Zelda smiled. She took a liking to the Calatian lady.

"But then," said Hiru with a theatrical sigh. "What else is there to do?" She chuckled. "The son of a mayor had taken a fancy to me, you see – oh, you won't believe it, but I looked a fair sight better then than I do now."

"I do believe it," said Zelda.

A broad grin crossed the Calatian lady's features. "Well," she went on. "Sadly for him, my heart had been taken already. By a Hylian, would you believe. My Jiru." She smiled again. "Hiru and Jiru."

The woman's smile was infectious, and Zelda returned it in kind.

Colin, though, just nodded. "I bet they all hated you."

Hiru flicked him an annoyed glance. "Boy, do you only hear what you want to hear?" she said. "Most of 'my people' didn't really care. _I_ certainly didn't care."

"Just that one Calatian, then," said Colin, nodding again, as though he'd confirmed some long-held suspicion. "Couldn't take losing a woman to a Hylian."

The Calatian lady cuffed him lightly around the head. "You need to keep quiet," she snapped. "And _listen._ Is the world so simple to you, or is it just your brain, petal?"

Colin glowered, and Zelda supressed a smirk.

"The mayor's son actually took it with grace," she explained. "He had a good heart. His father, though, the mayor himself? He was the one affronted. I insulted the pride of a powerful man." Hiru sighed. "And so here I am."

Colin moved to speak, but Zelda, not wanting him to blunder any further, cut him off. "What happened?" she asked gently. "To Jiru?"

"I don't know," Hiru replied. A slight crack showed through her jolly demeanour, and sadness filled her eyes. "My family don't even know I'm here." A tremor ran through her voice. "I think – maybe - they were told I'd been killed."

Zelda saw Colin's eyes soften at this. When he spoke next, it was without any of his previous bluster.

"We'll get out," he said, determined. "You can find your family. And…and Jiru, too. We have a friend, you see." He glanced at Zelda. "He'll get us out."

Zelda wasn't quite so sure about that. She wasn't about to wait around for Link – or anyone else for that matter - to come and rescue them.

"Or we'll find our own way out," she said instead. Uncertainty took Zelda's conviction down a notch.

She jumped, the forge roared like a dragon as the foremen stoked it. Zelda looked at the lady. " _Is_ there a way, Miss Hiru…?"

The woman smiled. "It's been a while since anyone's called me 'Miss,' petal," she said. Hiru looked from Colin to Zelda. She blinked rapidly. "My…you're both serious, aren't you?"

Zelda nodded. Colin raised a stiff chin.

"But..." said Hiru. "You're so young."

"Help us," said Zelda. "Please."

Hiru's face held an incredulous look. "It's…" she sighed. "Most of your day is spent waiting in line to do your share of the work. It's not efficient, but I don't think they care, petals. There are guards everywhere – not in _here,_ but just outside. They wake us up before dawn and only let us sleep long after midnight. I think. You can hardly know where the sun is when you're trapped inside."

"So, where do we sleep?" said Colin. "And when do we eat?"

The Calatian shook her head slowly, as though almost in disbelief. "Sleep? Eat?" she said. "We all sleep right here, flower. We eat when the guards let us eat, and sometimes that could be just once a day, if at all. You'll get plenty of water, though, don't you worry about that, petals." She paused, as though considering whether to go on, then said, "We…we do _everything_ here, in this cavern, if you catch my meaning. Be thankful the smell of the forge covers it all."

Sour bile rose in Zelda's throat, and she swallowed, trying to keep the bitter taste down. Colin paled. Sweat glistened on his face.

They heard one of the foremen bark an order. The line began its slow crawl forward again. Zelda cast her eyes down, trying to gather her thoughts. She looked around. The air shimmered with heat. It made her head throb. She took another step along with the line, and another – when a hand snaked out of the crowd and caught her wrist. Zelda snapped her gaze up.

And her eyes widened, amazed, when she saw Ashei staring back at her.

* * *

After an age where they had to wade through the sea of humanity, they found the rest of the Resistance huddled in one corner of the wretched foundry room. No one had seemed to notice – or had cared – that Zelda and the others had broken out from the line. She'd even insisted on bringing Hiru with them, though Ashei hadn't been too pleased about that.

"So," said Zelda, standing before Rusl who sat cross-legged on the grimy floor, his back resting against the smooth, glassy rock. "They caught you then."

The Resistance leader cast a quick, suspicious glance at Hiru, then turned to smile at Zelda. "I'm afraid so," he said with an embarrassed shrug "An ambush. I must be losing my touch."

"They don't know who you are," said Zelda. "Do they?"

"Not yet," Rusl conceded. "But I hear they want to bring me – us – to meet an official that's recently arrived."

 _Captain Kaltern,_ she realised.

Hira leaned down to whisper to Zelda. "Who are these people, flower?"

Zelda looked at them all – Shad, Ashei, Lara, and now even Colin who, after a grinning reunion with hugs and slaps on the back, sat with them once again. Strangely, the boy hadn't yet made a peep about Link. Or about Captain Kaltern's new face.

"They're friends," she said.

Ashei raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Friends now, is it…? "

Zelda shrugged. "I guess," she replied. "Colin convinced me and, well, _look_ at this place."

The forge sizzled behind them, and hammers clanked in a heavy staccato. A fiery, orange glow suffused the air.

Rusl's shoulders sagged. "Triforce be praised," he whispered. "You've seen the light." He ruffled Colin's hair, grinning. "Well done, son!"

She saw Colin's wary expression, and met his eyes, daring him to say anything different. He looked away.

Hiru had moved away from Zelda to smile down at Lara. "Hey, petal," she said, holding out a hand to Lara. The young girl shrank away, glaring, and the Calatian's smile crumbled.

"And who is this?" asked Rusl. There was a slight strain to his voice that won out against his good-natured tone.

Colin surprised Zelda by replying first. "This is Hiru," he said. "She had a Hylian lover."

"Husband," Hiru corrected.

"Husband…" Colin repeated. He smiled, then met Zelda's eyes once more.

 _He's still with me,_ she realised. Warmth blossomed from Zelda's heart.

"Well," said Rusl with a tight smile. "Miss Hiru. A friend of the Hylians is a friend of ours."

The Calatian lady said nothing, her eyes moving slowly from Zelda to the Resistance and back again. Her face betrayed the fact that she was full of questions, but she held her tongue.

"Where's the…the scroll?" said Zelda. "The _special_ scroll."

They froze – all of them but Colin and Hiru – and stared at her.

"It's okay…" said Colin. "She knows. She's with us now." He flicked another glance at Zelda. She ignored it.

 _Don't make it too obvious, Colin!_

"She's with us," he repeated, a little too eagerly.

Ashei's eyes narrowed. "Is she now…?"

"Calm yourself, Ashei," said Rusl. "That's no way to talk to your –" He stopped himself with a hurried glance at Hiru, then said, "To Zelda here."

"Do you still have it?" said Zelda. She pushed some enthusiasm into her voice. "I mean, we could use it now and be-"

"We don't have it, dear." It was Shad who had interrupted. "They took all our things when they brought us here, the Calatian cads." He smiled at Hiru. "No offence, my lady."

"None taken," the Calatian lady replied in a dry voice. She didn't return the smile.

"We know where it is," said Ashei. "I managed to… _convince…_ one of the guards to tell me."

"Cell Six-Zero-One," Rusl added quickly. "There's a circular corridor that runs around the outside of the foundry." He drew a circle in the air with the tip of one finger. "They have cells there. Some are just storerooms. Some they use for solitary confinement."

"Usually," said Shad, "they destroy the prisoners' possessions – fuel for their forge, the wastrels. Unfortunately, our things – the, um, scroll, in particular- merely proved to ignite a fair bit of interest."

Zelda felt her throat tighten. Her dagger had been taken by Captain Kaltern and handed over to the guards here. Was it just molten slag now…?

"This official that arrived today," Shad went on. "We gather he's rather important. They're to present our things to him later tonight." He glanced at Rusl who gave the smallest of nods back. "We were going to make our move first."

"And now you're here," the Resistance leader added. "I can only think it's a clear sign we should act. Perhaps your mother is watching down on us tonight with good favour."

"Or the Hero," said Colin, wearing the faintest hint of a smile.

Rusl didn't notice. Instead, he turned to the others. "Tell her the plan. We move now."

"Great," said Zelda.

Rusl smiled. "It's time to get our scroll back."

Zelda smiled back. _Not if I get it first._


	13. The Hero's Ghost

**13 – The Hero's Ghost**

" _Now if you recall, my dear," Shad had said, "the finished tools are carried away in carts placed near the forge itself. That's where you need to be."_

She was ready. She _was_. Definitely.

Nervous energy tingled in Zelda's every vein, mocking her own thoughts as she shuffled forward in the dim, orange illuminance of the foundry. The forge sighed, burning the air with a growl, iron frame burnt like black scales on an ancient dragon's hide. Zelda had her face half-turned to it, and so the waves of unyielding heat only made the right side of her hood cling to the sweat on her skin.

And still she couldn't shake off her unease.

It wasn't the attempted escape that was keeping her on edge. It was what she planned to do afterwards.

Molten metal, steaming and glowing hot, poured slowly into waiting moulds before the quickly-hardening material was passed onto the prisoners. Zelda's eyes tracked the rhythmic rise and fall of the huge hammers clutched in the workers' hands. Sparks spat with every strike, the air sizzling. The Deadfort prisoners, as usual, kept their eyes only on their immediate task. The Calatian foremen lounged in their chairs, a tin bottle in one hand, and fanning themselves with the other.

Zelda took a side-step, closer now. Then another.

Freshly made swords and axes, the steel still imbued with a faint glow, crept into her line of sight. The prisoners slid them off the worktables and into the waiting carts with a clang and a clatter. The moment a cart could take no more, two workers would emerge from the darkness to grab the rust-flecked handles and then push it into motion, disappearing swiftly around a curving path.

Zelda licked her dried, cracked lips. She braced herself. Another step. And another. An empty cart waited. Zelda reached out for it, fingers grasping. She touched warm metal – and then a shadow fell over her arm. Her eyes flew up, and Zelda looked straight up into a hooded face.

" _This was supposed to be Ashei working alone," Rusl had explained. "But now you're here, you can both pitch in."_

Zelda and Ashei leapt into the cart. It rocked slightly from the motion, axles squeaking. Two cloaked workers peeled away from the others to give the cart a jolting shove. Zelda glanced up at one of the men, seeing his eyes above the rag covering the lower half of his face. He winked back.

" _Now if you time this right," said Shad before. "Rusl and I will be the ones to ferry your cart out. This is the only time any of the slaves are allowed out of the foundry."_

The cart trundled along, wheels rumbling, Zelda and Ashei huddled within, Rusl and Shad pushing. They followed the curving path around the forge, and the clang and clamour of the foundry, along with the roar of the tireless fire, began to fade.

Zelda scrabbled to the front of the cart, and dared to take a peek over the edge. A rectangular wedge of darkness – an opening in the wall to the Deadfort's wider corridors – approached. But that wasn't all. Three figures waited there as well.

Zelda felt the pound of her heart all the way in her burning ears. She fell back, moving to the rear of the cart. Rusl and Shad slowed – and then Colin and Lara were dropped in, followed quickly by a leaping Hiru.

" _The three smallest," Rusl had said. "So they'll be able to sneak around the forge and wait for us. Then we'll be out. Simplicity itself."_

They were free from the cart and into the torchlit corridor beyond now. Zelda closed her eyes, allowing her tingling skin to bask in the cool air here. Rusl gave the cart another shove, and the party of seven watched it rattle away.

"Time is against us now," said Rusl. "It won't be long before they realise the cart's empty and someone will raise the alarm." He looked at Zelda, Ashei and Hiru. "You three, get that scroll. We'll wait here and keep the guards distracted."

Ashei's eyes narrowed, mistrust gleaming clear therein. "Just us two," she said, gesturing at Zelda. She flicked Hiru a glance. "Not her."

The Calatian glared back at her, but Rusl only barked a quick, "Fine! Make haste!"

"I'll come, too!" breathed Colin. The three of them broke into a sprint. Torches burning in wall sconces flew past them in a glowing orange blur.

" _Now, then," Shad had said. "Ashei has, um, befriended one of the guards, shall we say. In fact, if not for her this plan would have come to naught. You see, she has procured for us a key to cell Six-Zero-One. She has returned it, of course – we are not foolish enough to attract unwarranted attention at this stage - but only after I made a copy. Being held in a foundry with plenty of molten metal and the tools to make new moulds has worked to our advantage."_

Ashei put the cloned key into the lock. Faded paint marked the door as _601._ The key turned, the lock clicked.

 _This is it,_ Zelda thought. Her fingers twitched and she had to force herself to keep still. _This is where I make my move._

She locked gazes with Colin. He gave the barest hint of a nod. She returned the gesture with a faint smile.

 _Where we make our move, I guess…_

They stepped into a smoke-fogged room where a single hanging lantern formed a glowing glob of light. Zelda blinked quickly, her eyes watering. She coughed. What was this…?

There was a slow creak, then a bang as the door shut behind them. A whispered chorus of drawn steel made the three of them freeze.

Captain Kaltern, hands folded behind his back, stepped into view in the haze. Two of the Deadfort guards accompanied him. The captain wore a crooked smile. His scarlet gaze dropped to Zelda.

"Now," he said softly. "Did you honestly believe I wouldn't know that the Resistance were being held here?"

A crushing terror squeezed Zelda's heart. She stepped back reflexively, then glanced at Ashei – and saw the Hylian woman's jaw open and close in incomprehension.

 _She thinks he's Link,_ Zelda realised. _The Link she knew._

"I have business with the King, true," Kaltern went on. "But I haven't forgotten my mission." He turned to Ashei, his voice steeling with menace. "I knew you'd make a move to retrieve your weapon. It's in this room, isn't it…?"

Ashei slowly shook her head, more in shock than in denial. "You…" she gasped. "You can't…"

"Oh, you want to know how I knew you'd come here?" the captain replied, misunderstanding. "You thought to seduce one of the guards and steal away your abomination of a weapon. We knew you'd… _borrowed_ …the key to this cell. We merely had to wait. A word to the wise - these men here are pure Calatian stock; they'd no more have any attraction to you than they would a cow."

The insults didn't register. "But –" Ashei couldn't stop gaping. "Are you a ghost?"

Colin stepped in. "The Hero's Ghost!" he blurted.

Kaltern snapped his head Colin's way. "What?"

 _What?_ Zelda's mind echoed.

"I…" the boy replied, hesitating. He steadied himself with a deep breath. "If you don't let us go, I'll summon him. I'll summon the Hero's Ghost. I'll do it. And…and then you'll be sorry."

Captain Kaltern cocked an amused eyebrow. "Go right ahead."

"I…" Colin swallowed. He glanced at Zelda, a pleading look in his eyes. She could only shrug helplessly. This was a stupid plan!

 _We've lost,_ she thought. _He's outsmarted us._

"Well…" Colin went on. "I just…just turn in a circle three times."

He did so, with Captain Kaltern and the Calatian guards looking on incredulously. Even Ashei had overcome her initial shock to stare at the young Hylian with pure befuddlement.

"And then," said Colin, swallowing. "Then I say-say the words… _Hero awake!"_

Kaltern brought his hands out from behind his back to fold his arms across his chest. "And… _then_ …?"

"Uh," said Colin, his voice stumbling. "Then…um…" An attempt at a smile flickered over his lips, then gave up and died. "Then…"

Captain Kaltern's gaze hardened. "Kill the boy if the woman doesn't tell us where the Hylian weapon is."

The hanging lantern shattered, plunging them all into darkness. Zelda spun around. She peered into the gloom, the smoke making her eyes itch.

"What," Kaltern growled, "is going on?"

A blurred smudge of red flame erupted in the dark. Zelda's heart leapt, a wide grin flying to her face.

 _Link!_

"Attack!" the captain cried.

Zelda felt a gust of air as the two guards rushed past her. The Hero's blade moved, darting like a fiery tongue, and in two quick swipes cut the Calatian weapons in two. Sparks blossomed into life, incandescent light burning into her gaze for a heartbeat, before being snatched away by the dark again.

She heard the dull smack of fists striking skin, heard someone topple over in the murk. The cell door burst outward. In the sudden flood of light, Zelda saw Kaltern's cloak flutter in away in the corridor beyond, the smoke pouring out of the room behind him. He'd made his escape – and now Ashei attempted it, too, a scroll clutched in one fist.

"No!" cried Zelda.

She dived for the Hylian woman, her hands grabbing one end of the scroll.

"I knew it!" Ashei spat. She tugged. Zelda clung on. "I knew you'd betray us!"

Pain exploded in Zelda's chest as Ashei stuck a boot in. Still she didn't let go, though it felt like her fingers would tear from their very sockets. Her eyes, slick with tears, tried to spot Link – but found him still tackling one of the guards.

"You Calatian lover," Ashei growled in a quiet voice, her free hand curling into a fist. "Rusl wanted you as our new queen. Royalty is so overrated. Always thought a knight should rule."

Her fist swung in. Zelda turned her face instinctively – when a blur dived in to take the blow.

"Colin!" Zelda gasped.

"You as well?!" cried Ashei, eyes wide.

That's when Zelda saw her moment. She pulled. The scroll stretched, and Ashei had to grab it with both hands.

"Let go!" the Hylian woman screeched. "Let _go!"_

It tore in two. Zelda fell backward onto the hard floor. Aghast, Ashei held up her half of the parchment to her eyes.

A thud made them all look up. The other guard had finally fallen, and now Link turned his attention their way.

For the second time, Ashei's jaw dropped open. Link took a step – and then, with a frustrated yell, Ashei kicked Zelda away, and dived into the passageway outside.

Zelda's heart sped in her chest. Breathing heavily, she crawled over to Colin. He was lying face down on the floor. Zelda raised her hand, hesitating, then clutched his sleeve, and rolled him back over.

Gold flashed. Colin wore a metal mask that covered the top half of his face. His grin peeked out from below.

"I found this in here," said Colin as he sat himself up. "She didn't even touch me. Not really." He chuckled, then pulled off the golden mask. "This room is great. They have everything."

"They do," said Link.

The two young Hylians turned to face the Hero. Link threw something small and slender at Zelda. "Catch."

She did, snatching her sheathed dagger out of the air. Zelda smiled. "Thanks."

Link had found something else as well. A bow, coupled with a single arrow with the steel head jammed into something small, black and spherical.

"Is that…" said Colin, "…a bomb arrow?"

"A prison break," Link replied. Shouts echoed in the corridor beyond. "But first, I do believe we are but mere moments away from engaging in a spot of tasteless violence which may, or may not, result in someone meeting an early, and perhaps even messy, end."

Colin frowned. "Why…are you looking at _me_?"

"Let's get out of here."

They did, Link leading the way as he battled through the confused guards. Even Zelda's dagger saw some action, snaking in and out when needed. They finally emerged out into a Hyrule Field sitting under a sky smudged with dark, grey clouds. Stray raindrops fluttered on the cold breeze.

Link found a shard of flint in his belt and, striking it, he set it to the bomb arrow's fuse. It sizzled, and began to belch black smoke. The Hero of Time raised the bow, and aimed with one eye jammed shut.

"Brace yourselves," said Link. "This may cause a slight tremor."

He let the arrow fly. It curved through the air, hissing, a thin line of black trailing it, before it struck one wall of the Deadfort.

The explosion knocked all three of them to the ground. Zelda kept her eyes scrunched tightly shut as whistling chunks of hot rubble pelted the ground all around. Coughing as the smoke cleared, she finally looked up.

One entire wall was missing from the Deadfort. The mostly-Hylian prisoners spilled out, eyes squinting despite the lack of sunlight.

"Look at the poor souls," said Link softly. "They're more akin to ReDeads now than people."

"Not all of them," Zelda replied, pointing.

Anger had sparked on some of the prisoners' faces. Screams followed, but they hadn't sprung from the workers. The Calatian guards. They were the ones to feel the brunt of rage carried in the weight of the hammers still clutched in the former prisoners' hands.

Zelda swallowed, and looked away. She scanned the crowd as the former workers began to file past, searching, but she saw no sign of either Captain Kaltern or the Resistance. Zelda did find one person, though.

"Hiru!" she called.

The Calatian woman looked up, surprised. Spotting Zelda, her face broke into a grin. She ran towards them.

Zelda waited. She heard Colin mumble behind her.

"Slight tremor…?" he said. "You call that a slight tremor? I think I've cracked a rib."

"Sorry, what was that?" Link replied. "You need to speak up, lad."

"You know very well what I-"

"I've always been of the belief that adversity, discomfort and trial are the best motivators for personal growth."

"Well _I'm_ starting to believe you make this stuff up on the spot."

Zelda heard no more. "Petal!" cried Hiru, enfolding her in an immense hug. The Calatian ran a hand through Zelda's strawberry-blonde hair. "Are you alright, flower? I got separated from the others and I was so worried about you."

"I'm fine," Zelda replied, grinning. "Are you?"

"I'm free," Hiru breathed. "Free." The cold breeze weaved random patterns in her hair. Her eyes fixed on Zelda's face. "Was this you?" She looked up at Colin, then at Link. "Is this the friend you mentioned…?"

Colin nodded, but Zelda said nothing. She longed to ask Hiru to join them on their journey, but the touch of torn parchment in her fist reminded her that she had no idea where they were next to go.

"Find your family," Zelda said at last.

Hiru smiled. "I will. And Jiru, too. If I can." She stood and looked at Link. "Thank you." The Hero bowed his head. "Both of you," she added, turning to Colin. "Take good care."

Zelda and Hiru exchanged a long, last hug, then the trio watched the Calatian lady go. Zelda silently wished her the very best.

She looked at Link. "How did you find us so quickly? You didn't even have a horse…"

"I'm chosen," Link replied with a slight shrug. "As are you. It's the only explanation I have."

"Chosen." Zelda chewed over the word. "It sounds so…cocky."

"Well," Link replied. "When you're marked by something greater than yourself, the sheer majesty of it can only make arrogance diminish, not grow."

Zelda sighed, then turned to Colin. "And how did _you_ know how to summon him?"

The boy hesitated. "Well, I –" He stopped, then drew on some hidden reserve of confidence. "I just knew. I believed. In him. In you. In myself. Well, mostly you. And that's all it took."

"That's all i-" Zelda's eyes narrowed. "Idiot."

She stalked off, and Colin watched her go, mouth agape.

Link looked down at the Hylian boy. "I think she likes you."

Colin glowered. "Shut up."


	14. A Fire, a Watefall and the Tree

**14 – A Fire, a Waterfall and the Tree**

Night drew its dark cloak over Hyrule Field. The Chosen three sat huddled around a fire, their eyes fixed on the torn scroll that lay within. The parchment fluttered in the heat but didn't catch, ensconced in its own emerald glow.

Zelda sighed. They'd tried everything to destroy the spell. Link had used his fiery blade, Colin had tried to tear it even further and now they'd cast it into this fire. Nothing had worked.

"How did I even rip it in the first place?" Zelda mused out loud.

"Perhaps," Link replied, "it knew what the Resistance wanted and decided it wasn't going to be used that way."

Zelda looked up, saw the dancing flames reflected in the Hero's azure eyes. "It's a parchment. It's not alive."

Link sat with his fingers knotted and hands resting on his drawn-up knees. "I've lived long enough to know not to discount the possibility."

"If that's true," said Colin, "then it's done, right? We don't have anything to worry out?"

"I was merely thinking out loud, son," Link replied with a dismissive wave. "I wouldn't lean on that for comfort."

"Then Da's going to come after us," said Colin quietly. A gentle breeze tugged at the flames. "The Resistance are going to want the rest of the spell back."

"Great." Zelda's voice was glum. "Why didn't they try back at the Deadfort…?"

"I'd wager that they'd already made their escape in the chaos far before we did," said Link. "To regroup and reassess."

Zelda sighed. "And Captain Kaltern will be after us, too. He wants me _and_ the weapon." She looked from Colin to Link. "He said his Shade can track me."

The Hero digested this without comment. He picked up a stick and prodded the fire. Sparks spiralled into the air. "Tell me again," he said at last. "About the captain."

Zelda drew a short breath. "He looks just like you."

"But he didn't before," Colin added.

"I know that," Link said softly. "The captain and I have met."

Zelda nodded, remembering when 'Old Sloat' had confronted the captain back in the Kakariko inn. "And his eyes," she continued. "They're red. _Completely_ red." She watched Link's neutral expression. "What does it mean…?"

The Hero pursed his lips in thought for a moment. "I used to have a…dark shadow. His eyes burned with crimson light as well." He paused again, then said, "I've been thinking. And I believe I may have misjudged."

Zelda swallowed. She didn't like the sound of that. "Misjudged how…?"

"The captain himself carries no sign that he is a sorcerer," Link replied. "That means a magic-user has done this _to_ him."

"The King," Zelda said. The words had just come to her lips without her even thinking about it.

The Hero nodded, though. "My thoughts as well," he said. "Not only is the King a sorcerer, but I wonder if somehow he knows me. Or knows _of_ me, rather."

A sudden thought came to Zelda. "He does know _a_ Link," she said. "He used the Hero's body – the Hero that Colin knew, I mean – as a…a…"

"A talisman," Colin said. "To win his battles."

"Interesting," said Link. "But that only confirms my suspicions that the King knows a lot more about me – or my lineage, at least – than we'd previously thought."

They fell into silence for a long moment, each alone in their thoughts in front of the hissing, crackling fire. Zelda looked up at the swirl of stars in the dark sky above. Another question prodded her mind.

"You said…" she said, her gaze dropping back to Link, "about how you found us in the Deadfort. That being _chosen…_ makes special things happen."

"Not _quite_ ," the Hero replied. "The chosen are helped. Unseen hands will guide you on your way."

Colin moved to speak. "Did they help you get through a door as well?" he asked. "I mean…back in that cell. The door shut behind us. And _then_ you turned up."

Link glanced his way, then said in a dry voice, "Unless there was another way in, of course. A hatch in the ceiling, for example. I'm not a wizard, boy. Like I've been telling you repeatedly, I just have _experience._ "

"Um," said Colin, a cherry blush forming on his cheeks. His fingers fidgeted. "So…you saw me do…that…um…summoning thing…?"

"I heard it," said Link. "Turn around three times." The Hero traced a circle in the air with the tip of his finger. "And say _Hero awaken!_ " He snapped his fingers, smiling.

"Awake," Colin mumbled. "I said Hero awake."

"Quite right," said Link with a slight bow of his head. "Apologies."

"So," Zelda cut in, eager to get back on track. "Being chosen doesn't mean we'll win…?"

"It merely means we have work to do," said Link. "Like I told you before, it's greater than you or I. It should break your pride and kill your arrogance. No overconfidence."

"Should?"

"People are people, Zelda," the Hero replied with a slight smile. "Do you know of the Sheikah?"

"I might have heard of them," Zelda replied softly.

"Well," said Link. "Amongst the Sheikah were ones struck by a mystical light. C _hosen_ ones. They flocked to Hyrule's temples to devote their lives to this light. Some were humbled. Some used it as a stick to beat others, because they thought themselves _better_."

He drew in a breath, then spoke again. "The light itself wasn't to blame. It was the hearts that the light shined upon."

Zelda listened intently. This was the most she'd heard him speak, and this time he wasn't dropping crumbs so she could work it all out herself. She leaned forward, the heat of the fire cloaking her face.

Link seemed to notice her interest. "Hearts can grow sick."

"How can you tell?" asked Zelda.

"By someone's actions, of course," said Colin.

Link smiled. "Well done, lad," he said. "Yes. A person's actions reveal what's hidden within." The Hero looked straight at Zelda. "You wanted to know the Noble Path? Well, here it is." He tapped his chest with gloved fingers. "Straighten what's crooked in your own heart."

"And be kind," Zelda added.

"Quite so."

The memory of striking down the guards at her mother's tomb soured Zelda's thoughts. That, and all the times she'd raided the King's caravans for gold. Now she literally felt sick at heart.

Zelda stood up and hugged herself as the chill night air caught up. "I just…" she said, voice wavering. "I need to think. On my own."

She walked away. Colin moved to follow, but Link snuck out a gloved hand to catch him by the sleeve and force him back down.

"Hey-!"

"Sit down," said Link, his voice firm. "She'll be back." The Hero waited out Colin's surly stare, then spoke once more. "That was a brave thing you did back there, lad."

Colin blinked in surprise. "Back where…?"

"The foundry." He let go of Colin's sleeve. "Throwing yourself in harm's way to protect Zelda. Clever, too. Using that mask."

A rose flush touched Colin's cheeks. He looked away. "I had to do something."

"Good," Link replied. "Now do something else."

Colin turned back. Twin pinpricks of reflected firelight danced in his pupils. "What do you mean?"

"Tell her the truth," said Link. "About your 'kill list.'"

"No!" Colin snapped, then cringed, and craned his neck Zelda's way to see if she'd heard.

She hadn't. The young girl leaned against a small tree with her arms folded, gazing into the distance.

"No…" Colin whispered. "I said I killed twelve Calatians. I'm not going to admit that…that-"

"That you haven't harmed a single soul…?" said Link. "I see it in your eyes."

"She'll think less of me."

"I doubt it."

Colin's voice curdled. "Well, _I_ think less of me."

Link cocked his head. "Because of your deception…?"

"No," Colin replied, the corners of his mouth tugging downward. "Because I wish I _had_ killed them. Or even just one of them. Lara used to make fun of me every time I couldn't do it. She said –" Colin stopped, the words gurgling to a halt in his throat.

"Let me guess," said Link after a moment. "She said that you were shaming your mother's memory."

Colin looked away, mumbling. "Something like that."

"Dishonour," said Link quietly. "The oldest trick in the book."

Colin sniffed, then reached down to tap his boot. "This list I carry. Lara made it. To remind me how many chances I had for a kill. And how many times I failed."

"Charming," the Hero said. "Your sister sounds positively angelic. Remind me to have her meet Navi sometime."

"You've said that name before," Colin replied in confusion. " _Who_ is Navi…?"

"Ah, look," said Link, ignoring the question. "Our young Zelda returns."

"Now what?" Zelda said as she joined them. "Where do we go?"

"Away from the Royal City," Link replied. "If, as you both say, we're about to be hunted."

"Away from any town," Colin added. "Right…?"

"Good lad," said Link with a smile. He stood, then stepped on the fire to kill the flames. "A sound strategy. I've always wanted to live in the rolling fields, tending to the land with my own hands."

Zelda crouched, watching the blackened remains of the fire spit and sputter in its death rattle. "Sounds peaceful," she murmured.

"It'd be hard work," said Link. "But I'd rather plough the soil than plough through an army."

Zelda gingerly stretched her hand out toward the dead fire. She felt heat wash over her hand. "What do we do if they find us?"

Link sighed. "I'm afraid that if we can't destroy the spell itself," he said. "Then we'll have to…prevent the ones who want the spell from getting their hands on it."

"Stop how?" said Colin, a stricken note to his voice. "You mean if we can't destroy _it,_ we have to destroy _them?"_ His voice rose. "What about my Da? And Lara?"

"I pray it won't come to that, son," said Link grimly.

Zelda withdrew her hand, wiped her slick palm on her hip, then darted back in quickly to pick out the half-scroll. "It's cold," she said, surprised. "The parchment, I mean."

"Keep it safe," said Link. "And be on your guard."

Zelda stood and held the scroll out to the Hero. "You take it."

Link shook his head. "This is your journey," he said, flashing a quick, sad smile. "And your burden."

Zelda sighed. She looked over at Colin. He didn't look happy. She walked over to him, and reached up to touch his shoulder. Colin turned.

"We will find a way," Zelda said in a soft voice. "To destroy the scroll. No one will have to die."

Doubt shone in Colin's eyes, but all he said was, "I hope so."

Zelda tucked the torn scroll away in her belt. "Come on, then."

* * *

They spent the next few days on the move. Though the Hero of Time didn't get the chance to till the fields, he did find some joy foraging for food and, on occasion, going on a hunt. At nights he stayed awake, watching over the two youngsters as they slept. On one occasion, Zelda had awoken to hear him softly humming the tune that the Hyruleans they'd rescued had sung.

 _The Royal Family's anthem,_ she recalled. Zelda remembered, too, that the Hero had called it a lullaby.

At another point in their travels they had found themselves at the top of a huge, roaring waterfall, walking gingerly over rocks slicked wet with spray. Zelda had had the idea to cast the scroll into the twinkling waves below where, she had hoped, it would be lost forever. Every time she tried, though, the wind blew with a howl, and flung the scroll straight back into her face with a wet slap. Colin had found that funny.

They'd given up after the fifth attempt, but not before Zelda had kicked water into Colin's face in revenge. Link had just shook his head, face grim, and that had just made both young Hylians laugh even harder.

It was on the third day of aimless walking that Zelda spotted something in the distance. She'd been trimming her nails with her dagger and when she looked up, and her brow crumpled in a frown. She pointed with the tip of her blade. "What's with that tree?"

Sunlight sparkled in its branches, and brightly coloured butterflies fluttered all around. But the tree looked oddly misshapen, like it was bulging with an extra layer.

Colin shrugged. "Let's go see," he said. "It might have some fruit. I'm famished."

Zelda turned to Link to ask his opinion, but held her tongue when she noticed his pensive expression. The Hero said nothing.

"Alright," she said slowly.

They crossed the swaying grass of Hyrule Field, and took a winding path around small pools of clear water. Birds warbled in the air.

The tree grew closer. Warm sunlight kissed Zelda's face. She began to slow. Link and Colin followed suit.

It wasn't just butterflies hovering around the tree, Zelda realised. A cloud of regular flies buzzed in the air, too.

The breeze gusted, and her nose twitched. A stench clung to the tree, one that made Zelda's stomach churn.

The bulging shape came into view.

Colin gasped. Zelda stopped. Tears sprang instantly to her stunned eyes. Her lower lip trembled.

It was a corpse, bloated purple and dangling from the branches. Zelda's eyes dropped to the tree trunk. Someone had carved the words ' _Unworthy_ ' into the bark in crudely cut letters.

Her tears were falling freely now, her cheeks soaked wet. An uncontrollable tremor overtook Zelda's entire body. When she did find her voice, it was nothing more than a croak, and all Zelda could get out was a single word.

A name.

"Hiru…"


	15. On the Run

**15 – On the Run**

Zelda stood over the mound of fresh dirt that marked the spot where they'd buried Hiru. Breathing heavily and with sweat still clinging to her skin from all the effort of digging with no tools, Zelda looked down at the makeshift grave as she held a single white flower, grief pinching her face.

True, she hadn't known the Calatian lady for all that long, but Zelda had still felt the thinnest thread of a connection between the two of them. She crouched and softly placed the flower atop the mound.

A swoosh of fabric made her look up. Link had started to move off, cloak cresting the breeze behind him. She and Colin joined him, walking in silence under a blue, cloudless sky. Time passed; how long exactly she didn't quite know, but Zelda felt a hard, dark knot deep in her gut that began to grow with their every step. It liquefied into poisonous vines of emotion that finally spilled over completely.

"It was Ashei," she murmured.

Colin glanced up at her. "How do you know that?"

Zelda stopped short. That he understood instantly what she was referring told Zelda that it had preyed on Colin's mind, too.

Link stood apart, saying nothing, arms folded under the wrapping of his dark cloak, and watching them both with wary eyes.

"I _know,_ " Zelda insisted. Her fingers danced over the marble hilt sticking out from her belt. "I saw the way she looked at Hiru. Ashei hated her."

Colin rounded on her. "Hold on," he said, his voice hot. "It could have been a Calatian. It probably _was_ a Calatian. They-they probably did this after they-they found out about her Hylian hus-"

"How would they even know?" Zelda shot back. " _We_ knew she was married to a Hylian. Ashei knew."

Colin held her glare for a moment, then spun away. "It wasn't Ashei."

"It _was._ "

"She wouldn't do that!" Colin cried. "Not like this. And-and not writing something like _that._ " He waved back toward the tree that now stood as a thin black line in the distance. "She wasn't even going to use the spell, remember? She's not a bad person."

Zelda's voice rose. "She wants to use it now, though, doesn't she?" Something snapped within, and her hand grasped at the handle of her dagger. "She's _evil._ "

"You don't know her!"

Zelda's tone grew quiet once again. "I hope she finds us. Because if she does, I'm going to –"

"What?" Turning back, Colin strode straight up to Zelda, grabbed her sleeve and pushed her back a step with his chest. "What will you do?"

" _Stop."_

Link's voice snapped like a whip and made the two young Hylians freeze. Zelda blinked in surprise. _He wasn't even that loud_.

"Let go," the Hero said, his voice both gentle and carrying a steely note of finality.

Colin released her. Zelda shrugged away from him, happy with the small triumph. Link's eyes, though, still bore into her, and she had the uncomfortable sensation that his command was meant for her, too.

 _Let go of your hurt,_ the Hero's eyes seemed to say.

And despite herself, Zelda felt the pain subside a little.

"We move on," Link added.

Again he said it in such a way that Zelda wasn't sure if he was referring to their journey in general or to Hiru's untimely fate.

And, as before, it was probably both.

Zelda's cheek twitched. "Where, though?" she said in a sullen voice. "We can't just wander around Hyrule Field forever."

"Especially with no horses," Colin added.

Link's eyes narrowed, and so Zelda stepped in quickly to state, "We're not complaining."

"Yeah," Colin agreed with an enthusiastic nod. "We're just being practical."

The Hero of Time stood silent for a moment, the muscles in his face relaxing, and Zelda felt a moment of secret satisfaction knowing that she was finally learning to second guess him.

Link turned, his gaze sweeping over their surroundings. Zelda followed suit, and saw that this part of Hyrule Field stood uneven, bumped with small, grassy hillocks and only a few trees, one of which stood just ten paces away from them, its long, leafy branches shielding them from the sun.

"First of all," the Hero said, turning back. "I am sorry about your friend." Link then changed his focus to Colin. "And you're right, lad. We shouldn't jump to any conclusions, not with the scant evidence we have before us."

"Fine," Zelda hissed under her breath. "Just don't ask us to kiss and make up."

Colin sighed, relieved. "So…where _do_ we go now?"

"I haven't finished," Link replied in a stern voice. He began to circle slowly around the both of them.

Colin leaned in toward Zelda to whisper. "Is he going to make another speech? I think he is. He's making another speech."

Zelda bit back a laugh. She knew this was Colin's attempt at an apology, and though she felt her heart thaw toward him, the hurt of loss still throbbed raw. She opened her mouth to whisper something back – when Link's face popped in between the two of them.

"I do not interrupt you when you make snorting noises in your sleep, so I would thank you both if you would kindly not interrupt me when I'm speaking."

"Sorry," said Zelda, looking down.

"Sorry," said Colin, though he couldn't help but quietly add, "And I do _not_ snort."

Finally Link had circled all the way back, and turned on his heel to face them. He opened his mouth -

When an arrow buzzed past them, slicing the air between them, and splintered chunks out of the nearby tree, its feathered tail still vibrating from the force. The Chosen spun around.

"Move!" cried Link.

Zelda did. She dived, Colin following after her, and hit the ground so hard that she tasted earth. Another arrow hummed, making Zelda tense and, with a yelp, she rolled away in desperation. She heard the ground tear and looked up to see the wooden shaft spinning in the undergrowth not too far from her.

Another spat overhead, and she ducked, cringing. Zelda looked up. Her eyes shifted to the peak of one of the small hills.

"Captain Kaltern," she breathed.

"And the Shade!" cried Colin.

Zelda recognised the archer lying flat on his front with his bow held at an angle. "Link!" she hissed. "That archer! He's Auru! He's with the Resistance!"

Link stood unflinching as another arrow cut through the air just a hair above the top of his head. The motion sent his hood flying back. "That's why he keeps missing," he murmured.

The Hero seemed distracted, and Zelda suddenly saw why. Link's gaze locked with Captain Kaltern's. The Calatian's throat bob up and down, his crimson eyes bulging as he finally got a clear look at the Hero's face. They stood staring at each other, Captain Kaltern in his green livery, Link cloaked all in black.

Auru had stopped, too, looking up in surprise, a forgotten arrow still nocked to his bow.

The slow whisper of steel rolled through the air when Captain Kaltern drew his sword. "Who are you?" he called over the distance.

"I'm just here to assist the girl," Link returned. He cocked his head. "And her friend."

"Your face…" said Kaltern.

"Rather," Link replied. " _Your_ face."

"Surrender the youngsters," the captain called. "And I will let you go free in the name of the King."

"A poor trade," Link retorted. "My life is lived, while these two have much further yet to travel in theirs."

"I don't think you know who I am," the Calatian said in a dark voice. "You do not want to anger me. My swordsmanship is unmatched."

The captain spun his sword, his hand weaving and thrusting as he cut a complicated pattern through the air, the blade flashing gold every time the sunlight caught it.

Link watched, impassive, then unhooked the hilt from his belt and, with a flick of wrist, allowed the steel to slowly clack out until, when the sharp tip had emerged, it burst into eerie flame.

"Let's put that to the test, shall we?" Link called.

A vein throbbed in Captain Kaltern's brow. "You will die," he insisted. "Magic sword or not."

"I think not," Link replied simply. "You want me alive. After all, you need to ask me about this." He gestured to his face.

The sky darkened suddenly, and they all glanced up. Zelda frowned, a chill of unease prickling her back. She saw Captain Kaltern begin to look around in trepidation as well. Even the Shade seemed to take pause, their fluttering capes growing still.

Zelda looked up again. Roiling, black clouds had blotted out the sun. Thunder rumbled. The wind whistled through the shivering branches of the tree that had shaded them. The leaves rustled, disturbed by all the motion. A fat blob of rainwater hit her in one eye, making her squint.

Zelda turned to see Colin crawling up to her. His eyes held the same realisation that she had just reached.

"They can't have…" he breathed.

"Not with just half a scroll!" Zelda added.

A crack of thunder tore the air. Then a jagged spike of lightning split the nearby tree in two from tip to root. Zelda screamed. Sparks plumed upward as the two halves of the tree fell apart. The shockwave threw Zelda face-first into the ground. She heard Captain Kaltern cry out somewhere in the distance.

And then Link was suddenly with her, dragging Zelda to her feet by her wrists.

"Get them!" a faint voice called from behind.

Zelda felt her heart clutch in recognition. _Ashei._

"Run," said Link.

Zelda took a few stumbling steps, then realised Colin wasn't with them. She turned to see him still lying on the ground, mouth agape. She stepped over to him, then pulled him by the hair to shock him back to his feet.

"Come _on_!" she spat.

They ran, just as the heavens split open to hammer them with sheets of rain. Link had already gone ahead, but Zelda could tell that he moved at a more deliberate pace to let them catch up.

A bleary grey smeared the sky now. The soil beneath their boots had already turned to mud, spraying upward with their every step, and making the terrain slick and unstable. Zelda threw a look over her shoulder. Dark shapes were visible through the thick curtain of rain. She couldn't tell if it was Captain Kaltern and the Shade or the Resistance.

"How…?" Zelda gasped, turning back. Cold rainwater filled her mouth.

"Half a scroll," Link replied. He took a sudden turn and Zelda almost slipped trying to keep up. "It perhaps gave them just the one shot. With limited power, maybe." He shrugged. "Take your guess, girl."

Zelda's hand dropped unconsciously to her half of the parchment. What kind of a spell could still have an effect when only part of it was recited…?

She blinked stinging rain out her eyes. Link had lurched to the right, and Zelda followed, then raised her voice to make it carry over the howling wind. "I meant, how did the Resistance find us?!"

"They followed Auru," Colin called, huffing. He suddenly flung his arms out, struggling to keep his footing as the Hero changed direction again.

"He must've got a message out," Colin explained once he'd flung Link an irritated glance and then regained his rhythm. "Told them the captain was after you."

Another peal of thunder rang, and Zelda felt the rumble all the way into her bones. The darkness rivalled the night now. It oddly reminded her of a winter indoors, toasting her toes by a warm fire, all because the sun left the sky early during the colder months.

"Why are we running?" Colin called up to Link. A soundless flash of lightning lit up the clouds above. "You could fight them all."

"Indeed?" Link replied. "I thought you didn't want me hurting your former family."

Colin's face scrunched up. "They're _still_ my family."

Mud squelched, gouting into the air as Link skidded to a halt. Zelda slowed, then bent over wheezing, a painful stitch creasing through her chest. The rain was so thick that she could barely see.

"I think we may have lost them," said Link. He squinted into the rain-soaked distance.

His face flushed red, Colin crouched and rubbed his temples. "That easily?"

"Questions, questions," Link muttered. "You two are always full of questions."

Zelda, still bent over as she sucked in air, thought she heard Colin give some sort of muffled reply. That disappointed her. She'd hoped he'd give a testier riposte. She waited, just to see if he would, but when she heard only silence Zelda decided she'd have to take up the mantle herself.

"We ask questions," she said at last, annoyance twisting her voice. "Because we'd like to know just what's going on!"

Link still gazed into the distant fog of rain, pointedly ignoring her.

"Ugh," Zelda gargled softly. "I'd get more out of a cucco." Rain ran down the length of her nose. She sniffed. "Don't you think, Colin….?"

She looked up – then jolted upright. "Colin!"

Link spun around at the sound of her voice. The spot where the boy had just crouched now stood empty, rainwater filling his bootprints in the soft mud.

"Where is he?" cried Zelda, frantic. Her eyes darted here and there – maybe he was nearby and it was just the rain that had hid him? "What happened to him?" She raised her voice. " _Colin!"_

Another noiseless sheet of lightning lit up the sky, turning the rain an incandescent blue for a heartbeat. Zelda saw no sign of the Hylian boy.

Link slowly turned in a circle, his eyes scanning. "I…" he said, his speech rough. He cleared his throat. "I was wrong. We didn't lose them."

Zelda looked up at the Hero with wide eyes set in a quizzical face.

"It appears someone has him," said Link. "The rain was just a cover."

"Why'd they take him and not me?" Zelda demanded.

The Hero winced. Thunder rolled menacingly overhead. "Because I would have noticed if they'd taken you."

Zelda thought back to the Hero's words with Captain Kaltern. _He said he was here to assist me…and my friend._ Someone had clearly noted that Colin had been nothing more than an afterthought.

Link sighed. "Now they'll use the boy has bait. So they can herd us to the exact spot they want us."

"Which is…?"

"Where else?" said Link, finally turning his face to her. "Whether it's the Resistance or the captain, they both only had one destination in mind."

Zelda's heart sank. "The Royal City in Faron."


	16. The Ghostly Ether

**16 – The Ghostly Ether**

The storm passed. A cloudless sky returned, the air cool and refreshed. Link and Zelda took the wet, mazy paths between the small hillocks of Hyrule Field until they found a burrow to use as shelter. Link had decided that the young girl, face pinched with her shoulders sagging, needed to rest. She'd withdrawn into herself, barely speaking, as though the double loss of Hiru and Colin had been blows too much for her to handle.

 _She's still young,_ he thought. _Sometimes I forget._ He wondered if she blamed him for everything that had happened and, in a moment of petty spite, decided that she did.

 _It's time, then. When I get like this, I need the ether._

"Rest," said Link to Zelda. "We'll begin anew after."

She didn't even protest like he'd expected. Link had hoped to hear the sound of her voice once again, just to reassure himself that she hadn't magically gone mute, but within seconds of settling down in the damp cave her eyes fluttered closed. The sound of her soft snoring soon followed.

As young Zelda slept, Link settled down as well. He sat cross-legged on the hard, uneven rocky floor and stared unblinking into thin air. Or at least that's what anyone would have assumed had they observed him.

Link concentrated, thoughts funnelling into white-hot focus. Second by second his sense of the physical began to fade, his spirit withdrawing into a familiar, comfortable warmth. The discomfort of where he sat diminished and his eyes fogged over, the outside world becoming a blur of muted colours. He still heard noise; a low murmur at first and then growing progressively louder, a steady _thump-thump-thump_ beat in his ears, and he heard the sound of his own breathing, harsh and abnormally loud.

Link's inner eye took over. An ethereal vision of Hyrule Castle appeared in the distance, frosted in marble-white, the towers crested in slate grey. He looked around. So complete was his meditation that the physical world had totally vanished. A bank of thick fog clung to his shins. The raspy sound of his own breath still rolled through the air.

The Hero of Time sat down, cross-legged, just as his body did in the real world. He waited.

A slash of green light appeared in the fog. It moved toward him silently, the jade radiance throbbing as it neared. Link didn't flinch.

It was a glowing emerald rock, and as it came to a stop before him, Link saw a woman sitting on it, her chin resting on the upturned palm of her hand. She watched him with eyes dancing with amusement.

The Hero of Time felt a stir deep within his heart. He bowed his head.

"Princess Zelda."

It was her – _his_ Zelda, just as he remembered her in all her dazzling, shimmering beauty. Her presence, as ever, stole away his breath.

She spoke. "Link."

His emotions danced in reaction to her warm, steady voice. He had to steady them quickly.

 _I'm getting too carried away._

Link knew that here in the complex realm of the Ghostly Ether, you could lose yourself if you forgot that the phantasms you met were nothing than your own subconscious thoughts and memories filtered out, refined and then given form.

The real Princess Zelda was long gone.

"Tell me where I went wrong," he said. "You were always the wise one. I was only ever a blunt instrument for you to use."

"Don't say that," she chided. "You were more than that to me. Much more."

A gentle laugh fluttered from the princess's lips. The sound of it made Link's heart clench with a hollow ache. He ignored it.

Or tried to.

The princess continued. "You tell the girl not to be overconfident when you yourself don't heed your own advice. You tell her to be kind when –"

A dizzying ball of light shot up out of the fog. "When you were so _mean_ to Colin!" a tiny voice blurted.

Link smiled. "Navi," he said. "And I wasn't that bad." He knew when his own subconscious was trying to be too hard on himself.

The little fairy placed her hands on her hips as light spilled from her flickering wings. "What's with you calling him by my name then, huh? And, while I'm here, why do you want that Lara girl to meet me?" she said. "She sounds insane!"

"She thinks she's helping when she's not," Link replied. "I was reminded of you. And, besides, you could drive me a little insane sometimes, my lady."

"I could not!" Navi shot back. A frown and a moment later, she said, "But I like it when you call me your lady."

"You could," Link insisted with a smile. "But I wouldn't have had it any other way." His smile turned sad. "My lady."

If he'd expected the memory phantasms to respond with some sympathy, he would have been sorely disappointed.

"You've been alone too long," the princess said simply.

The Hero's voice turned wistful. "Alone…and too old."

Link winced as the princess gave him a gentle smack.

"Stop your wallowing," she said. "It's unbecoming."

Link pursed his lips. Sometimes his own subconscious _did_ know when he went too far. "Yes, my lady."

"Link," Princess Zelda went on. "Your plan was terrible. You knew you were hunted. Wandering Hyrule Field with no direction, did you not think they would catch up with you?"

"It was Colin's idea."

"And you are supposed to know better," Princess Zelda said, her voice carrying a stern rebuke.

"I believe I told you already," said Link with a sigh. "You were always the wise one."

"Stop blaming Colin," said Navi. "I like him. You were mean to him."

"I heard you the first time, my lady."

"Hmph," the fairy huffed, folding her arms. " _Listen._ You're _still_ being mean to him."

Link considered this. Navi had been his conscience as well as his constant companion, so if this memory phantasm was prodding him like this, he must have missed something.

It clicked. "Who has Colin now?"

"Finally!" said Navi with a satisfied nod and a grin. "Well, we think it's the Resistance."

"Neither Captain Kaltern," Princess Zelda explained, "nor the King would have given the boy too much thought. Indeed, I believe the captain only took him to use against the boy's father, Rusl. The King -" She stopped, her ghostly form growing still.

Link knew what this meant. His mind hadn't yet caught up to the conclusions the phantasm was about to reveal.

The princess smiled. "Let us piece it all together, shall we?"

Here in the Ghostly Ether, free from outside distractions, he could sharpen and order his memories so that any tiny details his senses had missed could come to the fore to be voiced out loud by these phantoms.

"Hiru," said Princess Zelda. "It was neither the Resistance nor the Calatians who murdered her."

Link frowned. "Then who…?"

"Think back," she replied. "Remember."

Link did. He recalled Hiru's corpse hanging from the tree, bloated, greenish-purple and –

"No wounds," he said. "Magic…?"

Zelda nodded, and gave him a sad smile. "A lesson you haven't yet taught the girl – stay focussed. Pay attention. Your experience is your strength. It's also your weakness. You do something so many times that it becomes second nature. Then it becomes lazy. _You_ become lazy."

"He was always lazy," said Navi. "Couldn't even awaken him when we first met."

Link ignored the fairy and took in a cold, fog-heavy breath. "The King killed Hiru."

Another nod from the princess. "I believe it is not the Shade that is guiding Captain Kaltern to find young Zelda. It's the King. He merely works his magic through the Shade."

Link felt a little uncomfortable hearing that. It seemed his own subconscious was indulging in a little too much speculation. Still, he had to ask.

"Why?"

"It amuses him, I think," said the princess. "He is so secure in his own power that he feels he can play a game with you and the Chosen, or so he believes. His magic killed the Calatian woman. His magic placed her in your path. His magic guided Captain Kaltern – and, by extension, the Resistance – to you just when young Zelda's heart was at its sorest."

"He wants us to come to him," he said grimly. "To finish it."

"No, Link…" said the princess. "I believe he means to prolong his little game…"

He frowned at this. How would his own subconscious know that…? Something didn't feel right.

A flicker of distant movement made Link turn his head. He saw a wolf there, watching him through the haze, and another iteration of Princess Zelda standing at the creature's side, her palm resting on the dark grey fur atop its head. They said nothing. They didn't have to. Their message was clear.

 _We're watching you. Our daughter's life is in your hands. Do not fail._

The Hero turned back – then felt his heart squeeze. He sat up. _This is not right…_

Both Navi and his princess began to fade. "Wait," he said. "I need to know. Who is he? Who is the King?"

The image of Princess Zelda flickered. She replied, her mouth working, but none of her words carried in the air.

"Princess!" he called, then froze, stunned.

A burning black spot grew from the Zelda's chest. It spread slowly outward like a spider-web of dark ink. The phantom Zelda's form curled black like parchment thrown into a fire. Navi was next to be caught by the black light, vanishing as she was swallowed whole. The darkness scorched everything in its path until, finally, the princess's features melted clean away.

" _Zelda!"_

But she wasn't there.

Link stared into the fog. For a moment, all he saw was the thick haze. Then he felt it, a cold, icy presence hungry for revenge. It saw the Hero. And it hated him.

A dark voice chuckled. Link swallowed, but years of experience allowed him to regain and keep his composure.

"You're the Calatian King," he said.

" _King of the Calatians, rather,"_ the voice replied. " _Not a Calatian King. I transcend the petty races of your world._ "

"Who are you?"

" _You don't know me,_ " it said with a touch of amusement. _"But I know you. And Zelda, too. Oh, how I know you…"_

"Name yourself."

" _Demise."_ The word echoed through the Ghostly Ether. " _You may call me Demise."_

Link felt a chill deep in the pit of his very soul. He didn't recognise the name and yet it still managed to strike a chord of eerie familiarity.

"Are you one Ganondorf's minions?"

" _Minion?_ " The mirth rang clear in King Demise's disembodied voice now. " _Ha ha ha ha ha!"_

Link didn't allow that to faze him. "The Ghostly Ether is my home, and you are a trespasser. Begone."

" _I go where I want, fool,_ " said Demise. _"No longer will I be kept…imprisoned!"_

"What do you want, then?"

" _I want you to take a look at this._ "

Link gasped as Images flew across his mind. He saw Captain Kaltern accompanied by the floating Shade, felt the knowledge of their exact location scorched into his memory. Another man – Auru, that's what young Zelda had called him – knelt before them with head bowed.

"The storm," the captain said. "This was no mere act of nature." A pause, then, "Was it?"

Auru cocked his head slightly, and glanced up. "Sir…?" he said. "It is rare, but such freaks of the weather are known to –"

"Quiet, Auru," said Kaltern. His chest heaved as he drew in a deep breath. "I had such high hopes for you as well…"

Auru raised his head completely now. The muscles in his throat tugged against the skin. "I don't think I know what –"

"You know _exactly_ what I mean." Icy venom flooded the captain's voice. His eyes bore into Auru's face. "The Resistance finding us at that precise point…? You, a skilled archer, missing all those shots…?" A growl rumbled deep in his throat. "Someone told the Resistance how and where to find us. I'm sure it wasn't the Shade here. That leaves either me…or you."

Auru shrank back, swallowing. The Calatian captain crouched down, though he still managed to look down his nose at his former comrade.

"Allow me to tell you a little secret," Kaltern breathed. "I don't often share them, I know."

Auru just stared, waiting.

"My wife," said Captain Kaltern. "My child. Both are in grave danger."

"Let me help you, then," Auru said, the words spilling from his lips. "You don't have to –"

"And I should just trust you, should I…?" Kaltern made a sharp gesture with his hand. The two Shade began to billow outward, their otherworldly song filling the air "I don't have the time – or the inclination – to bargain. I want my family back. So now you're going to tell me everything you know about the Resistance and their weapon. And how to use it."

The images swirled, blurring like watery paint running down a fresh parchment, then reformed into another place, another location which found itself lodged into Link's mind with iron-clad certainty. Here there was only darkness.

And voices.

Link heard someone whimper.

 _Colin._

"Son…" a dim voice echoed. "Just do it. Prove your loyalty to us."

"Yeah, big brother," another, younger voice said. "Now you know what this Calatian did." A pregnant beat. "So kill him."

Link saw a flash of metal, a blade clutched in Colin's trembling hand, and then the vision faded. The dark voice of Demise returned.

" _Now, I wonder,"_ it said. " _Is this what's happening right this minute…? Or have you just seen a vision of the future…?"_

Demise fell into silence, and Link waited for the creature to explain.

It did. _"Perhaps you still have time,"_ it said. _"Do you save the spy's life or the boy's soul…? What a fascinating conundrum. It's the choices we make, don't you think, that reveal our true character, no…?_

The dark voice laughed, louder and louder, yet strangely growing distant at the same time. The Ghostly Ether sped past Link's mind and then he awoke, his soul flung back into his physical body, sucking in fresh – _real_ – air so loudly that the young Zelda awoke with a sudden start.

"What is it?" she said in a blurry voice. She looked around with startled eyes. "What's going on?!"

The Hero of Time stood. "Ready yourself," he said, authority ringing in his voice once more. He knew he had to present a face of calm and complete competence. A teacher should never reveal his inner misgivings to a student.

"Why?" said Zelda, blinking.

"I'll explain on the way, girl," said Link. "We move now."


	17. The Choice

**17 – The Choice**

Colin awoke to find himself in complete darkness. He was unbound, slumped in a chair, his joints stiff. Standing, the young Hylian blinked the gumminess out of his eyes, then shook his legs to get his blood running again. He turned slowly on the spot, trying to pry out any sign of some light.

Nothing.

His nose twitched. The air smelled old and musty.

"Hello…?" he said.

No reply.

"Where am I…?"

Colin remembered being with Link and Zelda, remembered a hand peeling out of the fog to clasp over his mouth. A hood had fallen over his head then. Afterwards he had struggled as he'd been slung over someone's shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried away. The memory made his cheeks burn.

Colin took a step forward in the dark. It had to have been Captain Kaltern who had taken him – they'd already hooded him once before, after all. The realisation made his heart twist. Had Kaltern taken Zelda, too…?

"Son."

Colin stopped short as Rusl's voice echoed through the air. His eyes scanned the darkness, but the young Hylian couldn't exactly identify the source of the voice.

"Da…?"

"Yes."

"And me!" another voice added.

"Sis." Colin swallowed. "Why are you both hiding?"

No answer. He waited, then tried a different question. "Where are we…?"

Lara's giggle floated in the darkness. "Can't you tell, big bro?"

Colin's mind sifted through his memories. There _was_ a place, he realised, an abandoned and decrepit old building a short trek from the Royal City where the Resistance would take captured Calatians for –

"Interrogation…?" Colin blurted, hands balling into fists. "You're interrogating me?"

"It's not like that," his father's voice replied quickly. "Calm down. We just need to…make sure."

Colin's eyes narrowed. "Make sure of what?"

Lara answered. "Of whose side you're on, stupid!"

"Well, yes, to be frank," said Rusl. "You've disappointed us."

It wasn't that long ago when those words would have devastated him. But now, Colin steadied himself in the darkness. An image of the Hero of Time drifted into his mind's eye and he recalled this Link's cloak of calm demeanour. Closing his eyes for a moment, Colin took in a few deep breaths to ease his speeding heart.

"Da," he said at last in a measured voice. "You always told us that we should be proud to serve the Royal Family. That things would be right when they returned." A muscle in his cheek twitched. "You said they always knew the right thing to do."

Colin waited for an answer. Silence greeted him. He went on. "Zelda is the princess. She doesn't want us to use the weapon. So-so I was just listening to her, just like you said we should. _That's_ the side I'm on."

"Zelda is a child," Rusl retorted. "We can't base our strategy on her whims."

"Lara's a child, too!" said Colin. "And-and everything you're doing now is based on her destroying Castle Town!"

"I was just _testing_ the spell." Venom needled his sister's voice.

Colin bit back a reply. He _was_ going to mention how her testing had led to so many deaths, but he knew what Lara would say.

 _They're 'just' Calatians, brother._

It was odd how he would've accepted that as an excuse just a few short days ago.

Something metallic skittered across the floor and came to a stop when it struck Colin's boot. He frowned, then slowly crouched, his fingers curling around the cold steel.

 _A short sword,_ he realised. _Just like the one I got in Kakariko._

Blade in hand, Colin stood back up. "What's this for?"

"We found someone," said Rusl. His voice seemed to have grown thick. "Someone you know. Someone we _all_ know."

A loud click sounded, then an angled shaft of light beamed down from somewhere above, illuminating a bright circle on the floor.

That's when Colin realised he wasn't the only one being kept in the dark here. A thin, wiry shape, clothed in rags, sat huddled in the centre of the lit circle.

It was a man, Colin realised. A Calatian man. Bruises covered his exposed skin like a sheet of tattoos, and he clearly hadn't been fed or allowed to wash for a long while. Colin took a step toward him. A slight tremor thrummed through his heart.

 _This man. I do know him…_

But how…? He was friends with no Calatian.

The stranger looked up – and Colin's mouth dried instantly.

He didn't know the man's name, but he knew his face. The memories rushed back with piercing clarity. A young Colin lay protecting his cowering sister as a Calatian – _this_ Calatian – loomed over them both, decked out in the green livery of the King, face cloaked in pride and with eyes haughty and full of disdain.

Someone else had been there, too. Someone freshly flung to the ground, still and unmoving. The young Colin had stared with his tear-blurred eyes at the Calatian's face.

It was the face that had haunted his dreams for years.

It was the face of the man that had killed his mother Uli.

Rusl's voice rang out in the dark. "You remember," he said. "I know you do. I remember how he ran when I found you both." His voice cracked. "But I was too late, wasn't I?"

"It took Da so long to track him down," said Lara, smug satisfaction ringing clear in her voice. "And we've kept him here ever since."

"Why?" Colin croaked.

His throat hurt. It felt raw, just like the hot emotion erupting from his heart.

"For _fun_ ," said Lara.

Colin's mind whirled in horror as he tried to process the words.

"Y-You've kept him here…" he said, struggling to keep the tremor from his voice. He failed, and a slight whimper left his lips instead. "You've kept him here so you could just come and torture him whenever it took your fancy?"

He heard Lara snigger, but his father said nothing.

"Da!" Colin shouted. "Answer me, Da! Is that what you did?!"

"You don't get to ask that, son," said Rusl.

Colin raised the blade in his trembling hand. "What's this for?" he asked again.

"I think you already know."

Colin looked from the steel to the Calatian, but couldn't keep his gaze on him. He turned away quickly, so as not be overwhelmed by the intense hatred that screamed out from his heart.

"Mama…" he whispered.

It would be _so_ easy. Just five steps and he could thrust the sword into the Calatian's heart, just like Colin did every night in his dreams. Plunge the blade in and _twist._ He could taste the joy already.

"Son…" said Rusl, his voice a dim echo. "Just do it. Prove your loyalty to us."

"Yeah, big brother," his younger sister said. "Now you _know_ what this Calatian did." A pregnant beat. "So kill him."

And there it was, voiced out loud. Three simple words.

Colin forced himself to stare at the prisoner. He remembered the man as young and strong, remembered the sneer on his face when he'd drove his sword into his mother's chest. Colin remembered Lara's scream, remembered his eyes locking with his mother's just as the light seeped out of them.

He moved in a blur, his mind fogged over. Within seconds Colin had the man in his grasp, one hand clutching the Calatian's dirty shirt, the other bringing the short sword up to the man's throat. The Calatian didn't even resist. Colin tried to meet the prisoner's eyes, but they were glazed over, the light within them shattered.

 _Just like Mama's._

The man noticed him at last. His eyes flicked to Colin's blade. "Please…" he said with a broken, croaking voice. "Mercy…"

"Shut up," said Colin, heaving. "Shut up. _Shut up._ SHUT UP!"

"You're not going to cucco out of this now, are you?" Lara teased. "Like you usually do, I mean."

"You can shut it, too, Lara!"

"Touchy," his sister said softly.

"I don't see the problem," said Rusl. "Why is this taking so long…?"

Colin glared down at his prisoner. A storm raged in his heart, threatening to pull his soul down into the depths. He felt something wet on his cheeks.

He pushed the edge of the blade closer. Skin split on the Calatian's neck in a thin, red line. The tears fell freely from Colin's eyes now. He'd thought that the pain he'd felt on his mother's death had been the worst ever, but this – _this_ – was so much worse.

 _But why? I've wanted this. Dreamt of it. So I could be free. Finally free._

"Stop being such a baby!" cried Lara.

Colin grit his teeth. His grip around the sword's hilt tightened.

 _Free._

Colin looked at the man's face again. He saw his mother there instead, then Link's; the Link from Ordon that he knew. He saw Ilia. Then the Hero of Time.

And finally Zelda.

 _Free._

A sob burst from Colin's throat. The short sword slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground. He stepped back, sweat shimmering on his brow and suddenly exhausted, and the Calatian slumped to the ground making odd mewling noises of gratitude.

Torches _whooshed_ alight, flames coming alive one by one. Colin turned away, squinting, the sudden light burning his eyes. When his sight returned he saw that he was in a vast room, a huge oil lit spotlight hanging from the ceiling. Rusl and Lara stood against one wall, surrounded by a forest of large levers, the paint on the handles faded, the metal stalks showing signs of rust. On the wall to the left was the chamber's only door built from curved oak.

Lara glared at Colin. "You still want to play hero, don't you?" she spat. "You're so dumb. It's not heroic to let him live after what he did to Mama!"

 _If this is what being a hero truly feels like,_ he thought. _Then it's awful._

Colin sniffed, his eyes still leaking tears. He looked at his Da.

Rusl wore a stony expression. "It's because of her, isn't it?" he said softly.

Colin nodded, and was surprised to see a slight smile appear on his father's lips.

"Maybe she is the Chosen…" Rusl said.

And that's when the chamber's door burst open. They all spun around at the sound. A moment later Ashei came flying through the fresh opening, skidding into a crouch as she landed. Colin watched, face blank and heart cold, as Link followed in, brandishing his burning sword in one hand, clutching Shad by the collar in the other.

Before Rusl could even react, the Hero of Time hurled Shad straight into him. The Resistance leader, though, instantly shoved his Hylian comrade aside. His wide eyes were fixed on Link.

"It…can't be…"

"It _is_ him!" cried Ashei. "I _told_ you!"

Zelda scooted in behind Link, then rushed ahead of him as he dropped into a fighting stance.

"Colin!" she cried. "Don't do it! Do-"

"I didn't," he replied in a drained, empty voice. Zelda collided into him with a hug. It knocked him back a few steps, but he didn't really seem to notice.

No one seemed to notice Ashei, either.

The Hylian woman sprang out of her crouch, dropping into a roll that took her straight to Zelda. Link moved – but Ashei was faster; her hand darted out and snatched the half-torn scroll that peeked out from Zelda's belt.

" _Go!"_ she cried.

Rusl pulled one of the levers. It gave with a dull, echoing _clunk._

The entire building began to shake, thin cracks needling through the whole of the ceiling. Link lost his footing instantly on the newly-vibrating floor. Zelda and Colin stumbled as well.

An opening appeared in the wall nearest to Rusl. "Move," he ordered.

Ashei, Shad and Lara - all somehow unaffected by all the motion - dived into it. Rusl paused to throw one last look at Link, then slipped in himself. The opening slammed shut. The shaking stopped. A stray piece of broken masonry fell from above, shattering into white powder when it hit the floor.

Link drew himself up out of his stance. "They have the spell."

"How?" cried Zelda. "I thought it always came back to me!"

The Hero glanced over at Colin. "Are you alright, lad?" he said. "What happened?" His gaze shifted to the Calatian still on the floor. "And who is this?"

"They asked you to kill him, didn't they?" said Zelda, turning to the Hylian boy. "We came…came to stop you."

"Though," Link added. "It seems you had things well under control without us."

Colin looked down at the prisoner. "Came to stop me…?" he said. "You thought that little of me, huh?"

"Well," said Zelda, uncertainty clear in her voice. "You did say you killed all those C-"

"I lied."

Zelda blinked, confused momentarily, before a smile slowly grew on her face.

"Who's this?" said Colin, his eyes still on the Calatian. "Someone who needs some food. Water, too, probably. And some fresh clothes."

He took in a long, deep breath, then glanced at the Hero. Link, somehow, seemed to have understood, and gave him a respectful nod in return.

"Well, then," said the Hero. "Let's not keep him waiting."

Zelda frowned. "But the Resistance –"

Colin placed a hand on her arm. She looked at him, then looked at the broken husk of the Calatian.

Zelda sighed, gave a reluctant nod, and then smiled.

Nothing more needed to be said.


	18. A Breath of the Ether

**18 – A Breath of the Ether**

"Look," said Colin, pointing. Long, swaying grass reached to the middle of his chest. "There. That's where we'll head them off."

Zelda took a moment to reflect on her friend. His newfound solemnness struck her. No longer did he rant against the Calatians, though a pained expression would flicker over his face at the mere mention of them and his eyes held a hooded, haunted look

Colin had changed. His forced reunion with the Resistance had seen to that.

"We'll have to meet them there," he said in a calm and firm voice that broke into Zelda's thoughts. "We can't let the Resistance get into the city where they can use the spell."

Zelda followed the boy's gaze. They stood on a high vantage point on the crest of a hill, the scent of grass tickling Zelda's nose. Down below she saw a long bridge that spanned the length of a sparkling river. The bridge marked the point where Hyrule Field came to an end and the Royal City began proper. Wide with squat iron pillars, it housed shops and homes lined on either side of its single track. People bustled like ants across it.

Beyond the bridge stood the city itself with its tall, slender towers that reached for the sky. Exquisite metalwork ran through the Calatian structures, ornamented with sapphire, quartz and jade that glinted under the sun.

"They do make some beautiful things, don't they?" said Colin.

Zelda smiled, but said nothing.

"You're different," the Hylian boy said with a smile in return. "From when I first met you."

"Me?" said Zelda in surprise. "I was thinking the same thing about you."

"No, really," said Colin. "I'd have said anything about beautiful things before and you would've mocked me."

Zelda winced. "I wasn't that bad, was I?"

Colin's smile broadened for a moment in reply, then his face grew pensive as it tended to do quite often now. "It hurts sometimes," he said.

"To do the right thing?" She'd known instantly what he was talking about.

Colin nodded. He'd told them all about the Calatian they'd freed from the Resistance stronghold. . And Link, too, had filled them in on what – he assumed - had befallen Auru. Most of all, Link had informed them of the disturbing mastermind behind all their woes – King Demise.

The King had been on her mind, but so had Link's decision to leave Auru to his death in order to rescue Colin. The Hero of Time had explained that Auru had chosen the path of a spy and knew the consequences, while Colin had been captured and been forced to confront a choice he hadn't prepared for.

Thinking of the Hero made Zelda take a glance over her shoulder. There she saw Link, sitting on flattened grass in a stance she'd grown used to now - cross-legged with unblinking eyes staring into space. At his feet lay a strange device they'd found back in the stronghold; a tablet with a glowing outline of a Sheikah eye on one side, and a strange mirror on the other.

Colin had guessed that the Resistance had used the mirror to be able to see in the darkness of their stronghold. He'd heard his father talk about it once, but Colin himself had never seen it.

Colin's voice stole her attention back. "Da and Lara had him hidden, you know," he said. "My mother's killer. They never told me." He paused, letting the words sink in. "I bet they probably thought I was too soft. That I wouldn't approve of what they were doing."

"Pfft," said Zelda. "That's _good._ You not approving. It hurting when going against your own self. That's –"

 _That's what? The stuff that heroes are made of? So cringeworthy!_

Colin, though, seemed to have understood. "I know what it is," he said, folding his arms and staring unsmiling down at the bridge. "At least, I do now."

Zelda took in a deep breath, the breeze playing with her hair as she, too, fixed her gaze down below. Once again, just like back at the Resistance stronghold, no more words were needed.

* * *

A floating hole torn from the fog-heavy fabric of the Ghostly Ether itself made a glowing portal through which the Hero of Time watched Colin and Zelda converse. Here he'd seen the young Zelda make her plea at her mother's grave. It was through this portal – connected to the mirror he had given her – that Link had heard her call for help in Castle Town.

"It looks I'm leaving Hyrule in good hands," he said softly. "Maybe my work is almost done. Maybe I'll be joining you soon."

"Maybe." Link turned to see Princess Zelda approach him. "Stop spying on them," she said. "It's –

"Unbecoming," he finished. "I know." With a wave of his hand the portal vanished.

Zelda smiled, and Link's heart skipped a beat.

 _Steady yourself, old man. Remember what this is. Don't turn into an infatuated little pup now._

He swallowed. "The last time I saw you here –"

She waved away his concerns. "Demise may have invaded the Ether once," she said, steel flooding her voice. "He will not do so again."

Link felt a slight frown at this. What power did a phantasm borne from his own memories really have…?

"You will have to confront him," said the princess as she sat down beside him. The fabric of her dress rustled from the motion. "Demise. This lies solely on your shoulders."

"Well," said Link with a thoughtful nod. "That makes a refreshing change."

Zelda gave a playful punch to his arm. "Be serious!" she said, laughing. "I'll be with you in spirit. Like I was there with you in person when we faced Ganon." She smiled again. "So take heart."

Link gave her an odd look, then turned his attention to the spirit representation of the Resistance's tablet. "Princess," he said, picking it up. "What is this?"

"Something that shouldn't be here," she replied with a frown. "The past, present and future – or all possible futures from our point - have bled into the Ether. You saw it yourself when you saw the Zelda of this era - something your memory had no access to."

"But this?" he said, giving the strange tablet a slight shake.

Her frown deepened. "It's a Sheikah Slate," said the princess. "And it most definitely should not be in this era." Her voice turned inward. "But things of the spirit _can_ leak from Ether and became whole in the physical."

Link placed the Sheikah Slate on the ground. The fog parted to create a circle of clear air around it. "What does it do?"

Princess Zelda smiled. "What do most things you manage to get your hands on do, Link?" she said dryly. "It gives you – or rather the Link it should belong to – an edge."

She leaned in to peer down at the Slate and as she did so, her hair lightly brushed against his shoulder. Link felt a sudden yearning so deep he thought his heart would burst.

"Your hilt, please," she said.

Link blinked, surprised, then unhooked the hilt and set it on the ground. He slid it over to the Slate.

"Behold," said the princess softly. "The treasure of Oman Au."

She placed the tip of her index finger first on the Sheikah Slate then onto the sword hilt. Ethereal light, pale blue in colour, spilled from the tablet and then, with a series of snaps and clacks, it wrapped itself around the pommel, thinning as it did so, and attached so securely that it virtually became part of the hilt itself.

Link gave the princess a quizzical look. She raised her finger and pressed it against his brow. Her cool touch tingled for a moment, then Link took in a sharp breath as knowledge poured into his mind. Now he knew _exactly_ what his Sheikah Slate-modified blade could do.

"You'll need this power," she said as she removed her finger. "But the price is that your sword will no longer burn."

Link offered her a lop-sided smile. "Hardly a sacrifice," he said. "I never knew why it did that in the first place."

He didn't know, too, why he felt so at ease in her presence. It was almost as if…

"Now," she said, bringing Link out of his thoughts. "I sense your young companions have need of you. Perhaps you can use the opportunity to put into play what you've just learned."

"Wait," said Link.

He had to put his misgivings into words. Had to do it now.

The princess looked up at him with clear, blue eyes. "Yes?"

"You said that everything was spilling into the Ether. Past, present and future."

"Yes."

"Well." He swallowed. Hope made his physical heart pound so hard that his spirit felt it. "I do not believe think you're just my own memories talking to me. Not anymore." Link looked up to meet her gaze. "Am I right? Are you her spirit? Are you the _real_ Princess Zelda…?"

A smile dawned on her face so warm that Link felt the cold ache of years of lonely living melt away in a single breath. The ever-present pains of his antique physical form faded. She held his gaze, and in her eyes Link found his answer. Her smile widened. His breath caught, Princess Zelda's beauty engulfing the entirety of his being.

The Hero of Time's soul drowned in the iron-clad security of knowing that he was loved.

* * *

A twig snapped with a loud crack. Colin and Zelda spun around.

A trio of Calatians stood there. None were soldiers, though one wore a suit of armour, his sword already drawn.

"Well," said the middle one. "There goes that idea." He looked at the armour-clad one. "Element of surprise, you said. Sneak up on them, you said. Bit difficult when you're wearing an entire smithy on your person, no?" The armour gave a hollow ring when the leader smacked a palm against it. "Idiot!"

He turned back to the young Hylians. "Apologies. Now we can get down to business. Your possessions, if you would."

"Brigands," said Zelda. _They snuck up on us!_

She slid her dagger free. Colin, in turn, drew the short sword he'd taken from the Resistance stronghold.

"Oh ho ho," the lead Calatian laughed. He nudged his other companion, a woman with a long, thin face and sour expression. "The kittens have got some fight in them."

"I used to cut the tails off of kittens when I was a child," the woman said in a blank voice. A long, metallic sigh signified the drawing of her longsword. "My mother would scold me, until I told her they were _Hylian_ kittens." She smiled a thin smile. "Then I became the apple of her eye."

Zelda stared so fiercely at the bandits that her eyes began to hurt. Her knuckles ached as well, the grip on her dagger's hilt tight.

"Walk away," she hissed.

The lead Calatian was the last to draw his weapon. "And why would we do that, girl?"

"Just _go,_ " Zelda said.

"You heard her," said a new voice. Zelda's heart swelled when she recognised it as Link's. "Walk away."

The lead Calatian swung his gaze to meet a freshly-awake and now-standing Link. Zelda took a glance, too, and saw that the Hero's black blade was already unfurled and ready, though strangely bare of its usual fiery light.

The Calatian sucked on the inside of his cheek. "Give us a reason," he said. "I respect my elders. If it's a good reason, I might go easy on you."

Link lifted his sword so that the tip pointed straight at the brigands. "Why shed blood when there's no need to?"

The lead Calatian chuckled. "Nope," he said. "That wasn't it."

The woman raised her head. "What if we want to shed blood?" she said. "What if we like it?"

"Forgive my associate here," the other Calatian said. "She takes to her profession with a certain… _zeal,_ shall we say?"

"This is your last chance," said Link, his voice a deathly chill. "Turn around and leave us be."

The lead Calatian spat. "No." He flicked a glance at the woman. "Ladies first."

The woman grinned. "My pleasure."

She took a step forward, sword held out in front of her. Zelda wrapped her other hand around her hilt of her dagger, ready. She fell into a rocking stance – one that would make it easy for her to use her speed.

A motion caught the corner of her eye. Link had flicked his wrist. Zelda glanced at him. A faint glow of wavy blue light ribboned its way around the entire length of the Hero's blade. He flicked again.

Zelda turned fully to watch now. The Calatian woman's sword began to tremble in her hand. She looked down at it, confused. Then her hand suddenly jerked forward. Her eyes widened.

"What is this?" the Calatian woman spat. "Sorcery?"

"Magnesis," said Link.

He gestured again with his sword. The woman's blade flew apart from the hilt, the steel pinging off of a rock with a single spark while she herself went toppling backward to the ground.

The armour-clad bandit then marched in, his every step ringing with a heavy _clank-clank-clank_ that crushed grass underfoot _._

Link flicked his sword-wrist again. The Calatian stopped, rooted to the spot. A rattling shudder ran down the length of the armour. Slowly, inch-by-inch, the armoured bandit began to float into the air in concert with Link raising his blade. Zelda could only gape.

Smothered yells rang from within the armour. The Calatian kicked his legs fruitlessly in mid-air. Even the bandit leader stopped to stare as Link directed his companion to float just above the man's head.

Link gestured. The armour split away from the man inside The Calatian fell to the ground, landing awkwardly on top of his leader.

"Run," said Link in a dark voice.

The Calatian brigands scrambled to their feet. Their leader stared at Link with a fear-stretched expression. "Who are you?"

Link lowered his sword. The black blade began to slide inward. He smiled coldly. "Me?" he said. "I'm the Hero's Ghost."

Zelda watched the brigands leave, half-stumbling, half-running, then turned towards Link.

"What was th-" She stopped short with a gasp as her eyes looked past the Hero.

Link turned and Colin drew up alongside her. They all saw what she'd spotted - Captain Kaltern made his way up the slope, his two Shade waiting at the foot of the hill.

"Ho there!" the captain called in an amiable voice. "That was very impressive."

Zelda tensed, ready to charge forward.

"Wait," said Link.

"Why?" Colin snarled. "He killed Auru."

Kaltern seemed to hear this, his unnatural crimson eyes flicking over to Colin. "I did not." He stopped to give a gesture, and the Resistance spy stepped out from behind one of the Shade. "You see? Unshackled as well. He came willingly. And the Shade will not climb any further." He held up his palms and his voice softened. "I am not here to fight."

"Welcome, then," said Link. He ignored the startled looks both Zelda and Colin aimed his way.

The Chosen waited until Kaltern reached them. They looked it at each other for a long moment – Link's expression neutral, Zelda's slightly puzzled and Colin scowling. The captain turned his attention to the latter.

"Auru would not crack no matter how much I threatened him," he said

"Of course he wouldn't," Colin replied. "He's Hylian."

"Careful, lad," Link whispered. "You're slipping."

Colin's jaw snapped shut. His eyes still blazed, and the muscles in his throat twitched. He turned away.

Captain Kaltern looked from Colin to Link and then back again, his face bemused. "Well," he said. "I found his resiliency somewhat honourable. If misguided."

Link folded his arms. "What is it you want, Captain?"

Captain Kaltern looked the Hero of Time straight in the eye. "To talk," he said. "You and I. We need to talk."


	19. A Common Foe

**19 – A Common Foe**

 _A while ago…_

The song of the Shade filled the air. Pitched at a slower pace than usual, the notes dragged out, mimicking the excruciating pain they inflicted on Auru, the Hylian spy.

Just as Captain Kaltern had asked, of course. He couldn't have the spy perish before he'd spilled all his secrets. A kneeling Auru, teeth bared and jaw clenched, trembled as he tried to withstand the Shade's onslaught. Kaltern took a slow, circular path around him.

"I can make the pain stop," said the captain in a gentle voice. Just tell me what I need to know."

Sweat glistened on Auru's pain-tightened skin. _"Nnnn!"_

"No?" said Kaltern. He sighed. "Tell me anything, then. Your favourite dish, perhaps? The name of a sweetheart, maybe?" He clicked his fingers. "Oh, I know. You can tell me who that man is. The one travelling with the girl."

Auru forced open one eye. "I…I don't know," he gasped. "Just that…that he looks like…like the Hero…"

"The dead Hero…?" Amusement trickled through Captain Kaltern's voice. "The one the Kin-"

He stopped short, both with his feet and his voice. The captain slowly raised a hand to his face. _If the Hylian looks like their dead Hero…then that means I now do, too._

"Why…" Auru groaned, pulling Kaltern out of his thoughts. "Why…do you hate us so…?"

Captain Kaltern blinked in surprise. For all his time in Hyrule, no one had ever asked that question directly to his face. He _felt_ he knew the answer that was for sure, a boiling poison in his heart. His mind knew intuitively why, too. But to place it on his tongue…?

"You think you're better," he said at last.

Auru surprised him by barking a short laugh, the sound of which was snatched away the Shade's song. "A-And you don't?"

"You're weak," Kaltern said quickly. "Uncouth. You know nothing except to indulge your baser desires."

Auru's trembling lips split into a wide – and clearly agonising – grin. "W-weak?" he sputtered. "Then why h-haven't I told you yet w-what you want to know?"

Kaltern's gaze burned into his former companion. He felt a shift in the centre of his soul, one that, if anyone had asked at that precise moment, he wouldn't have been able to explain. He held up a palm. The Shade's song died instantly, and their billowing forms relaxed, settling like sailcloth returning to calm after a fierce storm.

Auru's breath whistled as he sucked in fresh air. He slowly raised his head.

"You…make a commendable point," said the captain, feeling a sudden sour distaste that he'd never experienced before. "There's no honour in this."

"Honour?" Auru croaked another short laugh.

The captain crouched in front of the spy. "You don't think I'm honourable? I could have had you killed once I was certain of your betrayal. If I were you, I wouldn't be laughing."

" _Sir,"_ said Auru in a mocking voice. "You had that Kakariko village _burned_ because they didn't give you the answers you wanted. And you say _we_ are the ones who indulge in our baser instincts...?"

The captain hadn't thought twice about that place. But now, seeing Auru struggling in pain to defend their memory, he felt strangely moved. And suddenly tired, sick of seeing reflected on the spy's face something he'd kept hidden from himself for so long - Captain Kaltern's own sense of self-disgust.

A frown crinkled his brow. _What's happening to me…?_

All of a sudden, Captain Kaltern became uncomfortably aware of the presence of the Shade. He half-turned his head their way. "Begone," he commanded. "'I'm going to interrogate him myself."

The Shade didn't move.

Kaltern's eyes narrowed. " _Go._ "

There was another pause and then, with a reluctance that the captain _sensed_ more than anything else, the two Shade drifted away. He waited until he felt they were safely out of earshot, then turned back to Auru.

"You said you would help me find my family," Kaltern said. "Why would you do that?" He paused, a cold realisation hitting his heart. "Because it's the _Hylian_ thing to do…?"

"No, _sir,_ " Auru replied. "Because it's the right thing to do."

Kaltern swallowed, again struck by something subtle that he couldn't put into words.

Layle's voice drifted into his mind. _Destiny…_

The captain slowly stood up. "This Hylian…is the _ghost_ of your dead Hero…?"

"I…I don't know what he is."

Captain Kaltern thought for a long moment, listening to Auru's harsh, laboured breathing. He held out his hand. "Then let's go and ask him."

* * *

 _Now…_

A whistling breeze high on the hill made Captain Kaltern's green cloak snap and flutter. "Well…?"

Link replied with a shrug. He kept his gaze on the Calatian, his every muscle tense and ready to react to any hint of deception. "You wished to talk. So talk."

"Here?" Captain Kaltern replied.

Link nodded. "Here." He saw the captain glance at the two younger Hylians and caught the hint. "They're staying."

Colin scowled at the captain. "We're not children. We'll hear what you've got to say."

Kaltern held the Hero's gaze for a moment, then conceded with a short sigh. "Well," he said, allowing himself a slight smile. "I did come to you, so you do hold all the cards I suppose, yes?"

"We're not friends, either," Zelda snapped. "Stop acting like it."

The captain's eyes dropped to the girl. "Have I offended you in some way…?"

Zelda's eyes bulged. "You kidnapped us! You used us as bait in the Deadfort!"

"Oh," said Kaltern. " _That._ "

Link cleared his throat. "I believe what my young companions here are struggling to convey," he said. "Is get to the point, Captain."

"Fine," said Kaltern. "Pay attention, then." He paused for breath. "This is what I propose: An alliance. Against a common foe."

Link arched an eyebrow. "The King…?"

Captain Kaltern nodded. "I say we pool our resources." He looked at each Hylian in turn. "Under my command."

" _What?_ " cried Colin.

Zelda laughed. "Under _your_ command?"

"You wanted the point," Kaltern growled. "There it is."

Link watched the Calatian with cautious eyes, thoughts and ideas tumbling in his mind.

Zelda turned her back to the captain. "No way," she said.

"It's only logical," said Kaltern. "I'm a warrior. It's all I know. But I'm good at it. And I'm good at being in command."

"Huh," Zelda huffed, still not looking at him.

"You need to breach the city," the captain pressed. "I can get you in."

Link frowned. "Against the King," he said. " _Your_ king. Why? And why do you need us?"

Captain Kaltern licked his lips, as though considering his options. Something shifted in his expression – he'd come to a decision. He reached into one pocket and drew out a locket dangling on a long, thin chain. He snapped the pendant open, revealing the pictograph within.

"The King has my family," he said.

Zelda cocked her head, listening, though she still didn't turn back around.

"Why?" asked Colin.

"This I can't work out." The captain paused. "He wants me to kill the girl here. And all of you with her. To guarantee this, he took my family." A bitter spike pierced his voice. "Even though I would have happily obeyed."

"Thanks for letting us know," said Zelda, her voice curdling. "Now I'll feel so much better with our lives in your oh-so-capable hands." She shook her head. "Leader!"

"Use your pet monsters," said Colin. "To get your family back."

Kaltern glanced back down the slope. "I don't think I can rely on the Shade."

Zelda finally turned around. "But you can on us?"

"No," Kaltern replied quickly. "You said it yourself. We're not friends."

Zelda shook her head again. "You make the best arguments, do you know that?"

"Your instincts about the Shade are correct," said Link in a calm voice. "They're under the King's spell. They serve him alone."

"This I gathered," said the captain. "But they got me here, did they not?"

"Wait," said Colin, hands curling into trembling fists. "Hold _on._ Zelda's right. You don't trust us. We're not friends. You shouldn't be in charge."

"I beg to differ, _child_ ," Kaltern countered. "Do you think you can just waltz into the Royal City? It would be easier if you had someone with you who is held in high regard, don't you think?"

"That'd be you, I suppose," said Colin. "You don't need us."

"I know when I'm outnumbered. What I _need_ is someone who is as opposed to the King as I am. And Auru's resilience made me realise - who but a Hylian would meet that requirement?"

"Go join the Resistance, then," said Zelda.

"Not anyone that murderous."

"Why not?" Colin muttered. "You'd fit right in."

Captain Kaltern sighed. He seemed to have realised the futility of talking to the youngsters and so turned his full attention to Link. "Auru down there has said he'd help me. Will you join him?"

"Why me?"

Colin made an exasperated sound. "Are you actually going to listen –"

"Let him speak," Link cut in.

Grateful, Captain Kaltern acknowledged the Hero with a nod. "I'm not one who usually believes in superstition," he said. "But this –" He pointed to his face "- is no coincidence. Is it?"

"I don't know what it is," Link said carefully, and he didn't.

"The King did this to me," said Kaltern. "All the more reason I face him and force him to change me back."

"Your King," said Colin, interested despite himself, "turned you into a…a… _Dark Link_ …?"

The Calatian raised an eyebrow. "That's you, then…?" he said, looking at the Hero. "You are Link?"

The Hero of Time nodded, noting that his name meant nothing to the captain. Demise had done a good job at supressing all but the broad strokes of the Twilight Hero's life it seemed.

"He knows you," Kaltern stated, curiosity ringing clear in his voice. "How?"

Link still didn't know. But what the Hero _did_ know was that Princess Zelda had told him in the Ghostly Ether that he had to confront King Demise. And to do that he first had to _get_ to the King.

Eventually.

"We're not going to the City," he said, swiftly changing tack.

The captain started. "You're not?"

"We're not?!" said Colin and Zelda in chorus.

"No," said Link. "Not yet, at least. None of you are ready to face King Demise."

Kaltern's scarlet eyes thinned. "You know his name…"

Link ignored that. "We'll stop the Resistance," the Hero continued. "At the bridge, like Colin said."

"Hey, wait," said the boy. "You heard that?!"

Link ignored Colin as well. He was, like he'd demanded from the captain earlier, getting straight to the point. "And _then_ …we'll reconsider our options."

"Reconsider your options?!" Kaltern snarled. "My wife _…"_ Desperation weighed heavy in his voice. He clutched the chain of his locket even harder. "My _daughter…"_

Now Link said nothing. He waited. He knew his own mind on this, but needed to hear it from young Zelda herself, needed to know that the teachings he'd tried to impart had sunk into her soul. He looked at her from the corner of his eye, saw her gaze following the captain's open pendant as it spun on the chain.

Emotions warred on her face. Zelda reached up and caught the locket.

Link's heart warmed as she hesitatingly began to speak.

"What's…what's her name, Captain?" she said, her eyes finding the Calatian's. "Your wife. And your daughter."

A muscle twitched in Kaltern's cheek before he spoke. "Layle," he said in a thick voice. "She…she chose me despite her family being of more noble stock." A sad smile touched his lips. "And Mya is my daughter." His smile grew. "A handful."

Zelda looked at him for a long moment. The wind gusted again, sending a flutter down their clothes. "Maybe…" she said at last. "Maybe we could…at least try and help them…?" She cast an uncertain glance at Link. "Without tangling with the King…?"

The Hero smiled. "Quite so."

Relief washed over Captain Kaltern's face. "If we rescue them…" he said. "Demise will turn his wrath onto all of us." He turned slightly to address Link. "You may have wished to avoid the confrontation, Hylian, but you may not have a choice."

"We shall see," said Link. "Now, though, if you're truly sincere in wanting to aid us" - he held out his hand - "Then you're very much welcome. But only as an equal. We have no leader."

"Really," said Kaltern. "What are you, then?"

"Just a guide."

The Calatian gave a short laugh. "All the more reason why I should lead."

Captain Kaltern took the Hero's offered hand and shook it firmly. When their hands slipped apart, Colin stepped in between the two of them and faced Link.

"Could I have a word…?" he said.

"Excuse us," said Link, moving off to one side with the boy while the captain stood with his hands clasped behind his back. It wasn't long before Zelda joined them as well.

"Are you serious?" Colin hissed. "Do you know the kind of things he's probably done?!"

Link didn't, but he guessed it was little different to what the Calatian they'd rescued from the Resistance had done. He had enough sense not to say that out loud, though.

"No," was all he said.

"When he kidnapped us," Colin continued. "He said he wanted to use us. To barter with the King."

Link paused to gather his thoughts. He knew that this was a fragile moment in Colin's path – the boy could either consolidate all he'd learned, or he could sink back into the mud by his own hand.

"He appears to have changed his strategy," he said dryly in reply.

"Exactly, though!" Colin spat. "Strategy! That's all we are!"

"Look at him, Colin," said Link in a measured voice. "What do you see?"

"No."

" _Look._ "

The boy paused, uncertain, then with chin raised swept his gaze over at the Calatian.

"What do you see, lad?" Link asked again. His heart throbbed, willing Colin to reach the right answer all on his own. " _Really_ see?"

"I remember the message he sent to Castle Town," Colin mumbled. "He only gave them three hours to evacuate."

Link snapped his fingers in front of the boy's face. "No, no, no," he said. "That's not what I asked, lad."

Colin glowered at Link for a heartbeat and then, slowly, a sombre cloak fell over his face. "I see…" he said, his voice strained as though he was forcing himself to speak. "I see someone…who cares more for his family than…"

"Than…?"

"His hatred," Colin admitted with a sigh. "His concern is greater than his hatred."

Link nodded. "Now," he said. "Which side of him do you want to feed with your own actions? Which side of him can you help to grow?"

Colin held his gaze for a heartbeat, the boy's eyes glistening, then said, "I hate when you make a speech."

Link smiled. "Rhetorical questions, lad," he said. "Not a speech."

"All sounds the same to me," Colin muttered. He brushed past Link, then strode over to stop in front of the Calatian warrior. He hesitated for a heartbeat, then held out a hand. Captain Kaltern looked down at it. An odd flicker passed over his face.

 _Regret…?_ thought Link.

"Perhaps…" the captain said slowly. "Perhaps you should know…"

"I don't want to know," said Colin in a firm voice.

Kaltern looked at him uncertainly. "If you're sure…"

They clasped hands for the briefest of moments, barely time for a single shake, then parted.

Link felt his whole body sag in relief. _They did it,_ he mused. _Both of them. Zelda and Colin. They did the right thing._ _Their hearts haven't been spoiled quite just yet, then._

Perhaps Link's time really was coming to an end.

Zelda spoke, the sound of her voice snatching the Hero's attention away from Colin and the captain.

"I'm scared," she said quietly. "About Colin. I thought he'd gotten over all this."

"People change, Zelda, but not that quickly." He crossed his arms. "It'll take time."

"What if we're hurting him too much…?"

"I believe he can handle it."

She looked up at him. "Believe or hope…?"

Link pushed a steely firmness of his own into his voice. "Believe."

"It said it hurt him," said Zelda. "To do the right thing."

Link nodded thoughtfully. "What he's learning now is the essence of courage. It's much more than merely throwing yourself headlong into a battle."

Zelda pursed her lips for a moment. "Courage," she said, her voice reflective. "I wanted to take the Noble Path…wanted to become a hero. But…" She paused for a short sigh and a shake of her head. "I haven't done a thing, really. It's Colin. He's the one. He's the real hero."

"Quite so," Link replied softly.

He didn't add anything further to that, didn't mention that he'd noticed her try to soften her words in recent times, or that her choosing to help the captain's family despite all he'd done was an admirable act in itself. He didn't want to. Link wanted all that to become her second nature. She didn't need to think about it, or be praised for it.

 _But your time will come, Zelda…_

A voice rose up from the slope behind them. "Well, well, well," it said, making Link and Zelda turn around. Captain Kaltern and Colin rushed over to join them as well, just in time to see Rusl, Shad, Ashei and Lara fan out beneath them at the foot of the hill.

"You've thrown your lot in with the enemy, have you, Colin?" Ashei called. It had been her echoing voice that had alerted the Chosen. "Turned traitor, yeah?"

Rusl glared up at his son, and Link saw Colin return the look in kind.

"You're no brother of mine!" Lara cried through cupped hands. "You're all the bad guys now! A common foe!"

Colin took a step forward to shout. "Grow up, Lara!"

Link smiled at that.

Zelda frowned. "How do they always manage to run into us…?" she said.

"Coincidence," Captain Kaltern muttered.

Link replied in a dark, low voice. "There's no such thing."


	20. The Legend of Lara

**20 – The Legend of Lara**

Zelda's eyes jumped from Resistance member to Resistance member, desperately searching and scanning.

 _Come on, come on,_ she thought as she sucked on her lower lip. _One of you has it. One of you has the scroll._

But try as she might, Zelda saw no sign of it.

 _Guess they're not that stupid. It's not like they'd have it sticking out from a belt._

The recollection of how easily she'd lost the spell herself made heat pinch her cheeks. Zelda felt determined to set that mistake right.

"I'm surprised to see you here," said Link, calling down to the Resistance. Birds squawked overhead as swooped through the blue sky.

"Who _are_ you?" Rusl replied as his eyes thinned. "You're not Link. You can't be."

"I am, actually," the Hero of Time said. "Though not the one you're familiar with."

"Riddles." Rusl shook his head, his gaze shifting to Captain Kaltern. "And you," he said. "You're Calatian. And even you have his face."

"Believe me, Hylian," the captain growled. "It was not by choice."

Zelda turned at the sound of pounding boots. It was Auru – rushing up to join them all.

"Listen –" he gasped. "Rusl –"

"What," said the Resistance leader, "have you joined them, too?"

"No, it's –"

"Listen," said Link in a placating voice. "We're all here now. Let us talk this out. The King is our enemy. We don't need to fight."

Steel slithered against leather as Ashei drew her sword. "We do," she spat, her eyes on Kaltern. "Yes, we do." She pointed with her sword. "Especially if _he's_ here."

"Come, then," said the captain, tugging his own blade free. He let it spin theatrically, the hilt dancing between his fingers. "It's been a while since I've had some sport."

"Wait –" said Link.

"Ashei!" barked Rusl.

But they were both too late. Ashei began her charge up the hill, her sword flashing under the sunlight. Kaltern ran to meet her, teeth bared in determination, and then their blades met mid-slope, Ashei driving the Calatian back with a flurry of quick strikes that the captain parried with ease. The clash of steel rang out in the air.

Ashei took a swipe at Kaltern's head. He ducked, then lunged forward with his shoulder, driving the Hylian woman to the ground. Dirt flew into the air from the impact.

With a grunt, Ashei swept the captain's leg – or tried to, anyway. He flipped backwards, cloak snapping, and the Hylian's foot slid harmlessly through the air beneath.

Zelda watched the contest with eyes wide in fascination. Sword cracked against sword, each fighter looking for an opening or an edge, and neither one finding it. So absorbed was she that Zelda didn't notice Rusl and Lara approaching them until the very last moment. Her whole body tensed up, her hand dropping to her dagger.

"The adults should talk now," he said, addressing Link. "Don't you think?"

Lara skipped around them happily. She was watching the fight unfold as well. "It's just like my birthday!" she cooed.

Zelda blinked. "Don't…aren't you worried that your friend will be hurt…?"

Colin shook his head. "Don't waste your time, princess," he mumbled.

Lara just shrugged, though. "Hurt? I guess she might be," she said. "But then she might take the Calatian out, too! Sooo…win-win, right…?"

"You're…" said Zelda, her mouth agape. "You're…"

"Despicable…?" Colin suggested. "Crazy…?"

Lara grinned. "Love you, too, big bro."

"Enough," said Link. He strode forward, unhooking the hilt from his belt, then pointed it straight at the two fighters. The black blade slid out, section by section. Waves of sapphire light looped around the entire length of the steel.

Zelda saw Ashei knock Captain Kaltern to the ground, his sword springing out of his hand. He reached for it, but Ashei moved quickly to kick it away. Standing over him, Ashei raised her own blade, two-handed, over her head. A satisfied smirk spread over her face. The muscles in her arms tensed. She readied the killing blow –

And nothing happened. Ashei glanced up at her weapon in confusion. She struggled, pushing with all her might. The sword seemed to be stuck fast in the air.

"Impossible…" she breathed. The Hylian woman glanced over at the others and saw Link pointing her way with his eerie glowing sword. "What have you done?"

Link gestured _up,_ and Ashei's blade popped out of her grasp. It hovered in the air, sunlight spilling down its edge, then with a flick of his wrist, Link sent the sword flying away out of her arm's reach.

"Show off…" Zelda muttered under her breath.

A glowering Ashei began striding her way toward them. Link, though, turned to the Resistance leader.

"Why are you here?"

"We're taking Auru back with us," Rusl replied. "This is the endgame, and I want us all together. It was Lara's idea. She said you all would be here."

Ashei had reached them now, hands balled into fists, waiting for an opportunity to cut in. Shad joined them as well, and Captain Kaltern had picked himself up to slowly walk their way.

"And how," said Link, "did she know that exactly?"

"Well –" Rusl frowned, the words dying on his tongue.

Zelda noticed Colin staring at something. He gasped. "Sis…?"

They all turned to face the young girl. Lara giggled, then gave a happy sigh.

"Sis…?" she repeated in a mocking voice.

The girl threw back her head and laughed. Inky blackness filled the totality of her eyes. She cackled at the Chosen and the Resistance, revelling in their sudden, shared confusion.

" _You are all so amusing…"_ she said in a voice that clearly wasn't her own.

"Lara…?" said Rusl, a frown wrinkling his brow.. "What's happened to you…? Why are you talking like that…?"

She ignored him. " _Alas, this part of the game must sadly come to an end."_

Captain Kaltern frowned. "Your Majesty…?"

Link stepped forward. "Demise…"

Rusl's sharp voice pierced the air. "Lara!" he cried. "What is this? Explain yourself!"

" _Yes, 'father,'"_ The incongruous sound of Demise's voice spilled from Lara's lips. " _Just watch!"_

Everything suddenly went pitch black. Zelda inhaled sharply. Panic made her look around. Nothing. She could see nothing. The darkness would swallow her -

" _Watch,"_ Demise repeated. " _All of you."_

An image appeared, crystal clear in clarity, but with all the colours washed out. Zelda saw a young Colin huddled with an even younger Lara. A Calatian soldier stood over them – Zelda recognised him despite his youth and relative health. It was the famished and broken man they'd found in the Resistance stronghold. There was a woman, too. The soldier yanked his blade free from her chest and she crumpled to the ground.

It was a memory, Zelda realised, and she knew exactly which one it was, too. She heard an agonised yell, saw Rusl suddenly run in swinging his sword. He managed to get a few blows in on his wife's killer – blocked though they were – before arrows spat through the air. One grazed Rusl's shoulder, the force of it spinning him completely around.

The soldier took advantage, choosing to flee. More arrows rained down. Shad and Ashei found them just then – just in time to see one stray arrow plough into the young Lara's neck.

Time seemed to stop.

Ashei's jaw dropped.

Shad gasped.

"Sis!" screamed Colin.

The arrows stopped, for what reason Zelda didn't know. Maybe the Calatians had decided to have mercy. Maybe, more likely, they were retreating after the heat of the battle.

It didn't matter.

Zelda felt her eyes sting. Both Rusl and Colin collapsed over their fallen family, weeping. An ashen-faced Shad and a shocked Ashei stood and looked on.

" _You who call yourself the Resistance",_ said Demise's disembodied voice. " _It was in the moment of your deepest pain that I rolled the die."_

Suddenly there stood Lara e again, completely unharmed, looking on stony-faced with her father and brother. Rusl drew her in to a hug. Colin buried his face into her shoulder.

And yet the other Lara, the one that had been struck down, still lay on the floor, cold and unmoving. No one paid her the least whit of attention anymore.

" _You couldn't see her,_ " said Demise, clearly addressing the Resistance of today even though Zelda couldn't quite tell where they were. " _You stopped seeing her, rather. Grief makes it so easy for my magic to play havoc with your memories."_

The false Lara stared with cold eyes. "Da," she said. "Brother. Do you see? They've gone too far. The Calatians. Are they better than Mama? Really? Do they deserve life when Mama doesn't? They have to die. All of them."

None of the others said anything, but Zelda saw a hardening in Rusl's eyes, and saw Ashei set her jaw in rigid determination. Even Colin seemed swayed.

Demise spoke again, his voice holding a tiny shiver. _"I've always wanted to know what it would be like to corrupt a noble soul."_ Now a gleeful tone took over. _"And let me tell you – it is simply delicious!"_

The world came back. Zelda blinked rapidly at the sudden return of sunlight, her ears pricking to the familiar sound of birdsong. She looked over at the Resistance, and saw them staring at one another in horror.

"What…" gasped Rusl. His lip trembled, apparently unable to say anything more.

"How did we forget…?" said Ashei in a quiet, humbled voice. "How _could_ we?"

Shad swallowed. "Castle Town. The spell." Pain shone in his eyes. "This is grave, my friends. What have we done…?"

"I…I wasn't even there," said Auru, swallowing. "While Uli passed on. I only knew when you all told me." He blinked. "But this means the Lara that's been with us these last few years has been nothing but…"

" _Cease your whining,"_ said Demise through the imposter Lara's tongue. " _All I did was use my puppet to whisper into your hearts"._

"You bewitched us!" cried Rusl.

" _Your own hatred did that,"_ Demise retorted. " _Don't pretend it wasn't already there. I showed you a path, but you all chose to follow it. Do not even think of blaming me."_

Zelda felt a cold touch at the base of her spine. She looked up, and realised that the puppet Lara's inky eyes were now fixed on her. She swallowed.

" _Whisper…"_ said Demise. _"That is, of course, what I did to your parents."_

Zelda stared. "What do you mean?"

" _Why…you didn't think they actually loved one another did you?"_ Demise's laugh made Zelda's eyes sting again. " _They barely knew one another. They were not two noble souls who had discovered each other – they were two lonely souls whose hearts I enflamed for a single night."_

Zelda had no words. Her mind reeled. She barely felt Link's hand come to squeeze her shoulder. "They _did_ love _you_ …" he whispered.

They heard the flutter and snap of fabric overhead. A shadow fell over them for a moment, and then the Shade were there, each standing either side of the false Lara.

Captain Kaltern spoke next. "What… _are_ you?" he said. "I thought you were our King. But, truly, you're no Calatian."

Demise laughed. " _I care not about any of your races."_

The puppet Lara opened her palm and there, somehow, lay the two halves of the scroll. _"I will destroy the Royal City myself. It won't harm me in the slightest. I will destroy it because it amuses me."_

Kaltern balled his fists. "The King –

" _Is another puppet that never truly existed,"_ said Demise. " _It was a vessel that I used. King Demise of Calatia. Ha ha ha ha!"_

"Then _where_ are you?"

" _I reach out from a place you know not. You see, I seek revenge. On her" –_ Lara looked at Zelda – " _and on him_ " – and then looked at Link. _"The two descendants of the ones who defeated me."_

Kaltern glanced at the two Hylians, then addressed Demise once more. "Then why have you done this to me?" he said, gesturing at his face. "Why have you taken my family?"

" _Haven't you been listening?"_ The false Lara rose into the air in between the two Shade. _"I killed the Hero and Princess of this era when the incarnation of my hatred failed to do so. It was not enough. I needed more._ _I used the putrid, awful purity of the Hero's remains as a charm through which I, on a whim, conquered the world that they so dearly wished to protect. Again, I was not satiated."_

Zelda felt sick of the monster's voice. Her head pounded. Demise's words drilled deep into her bones and set her teeth on edge. She wanted to scream at him to shut up. A wave of nausea washed over her. But still the monster didn't stop talking.

" _I stoked the fire of hatred in the very pits of your souls. Even I was surprised at how eagerly the races of Hyrule took to it."_ The false Lara looked at the Calatian soldier. " _You're nothing to me, Captain Kaltern, you or your family. It was just another game."_

Lara looked down at them all with an imperious look on her possessed face. _"I have so very much enjoyed manipulating your lives. Now I have but one more game to play."_

The Hero of Time strode forward. "If you don't care about this world," he said. "And it's just me you want, then –"

" _No, no, no._ " Lara wagged a finger and Demise spoke. " _No. No sacrifices. Nothing so disgustingly noble._

"One more game," said Zelda in a quiet voice. "You said you had one more game. Why? Why not just keep manipulating us? Why not whisper into our hearts? Make us dance?"

Irritation flickered over the puppet Lara's face. " _A game, yes,"_ said Demise. _"One we shall play together."_

He'd ignored her questions. Zelda shared a glance with Link and saw on his face the same realisation she'd reached. Colin had seen it, too. Zelda felt a warmth rise suddenly in her heart - she felt glad that she was part of the Chosen.

Demise, they had realised, no longer had the power to manipulate. That's why he had to reveal himself now, before he lost control of his puppet.

" _Yes, together,"_ the monster went on. _"I am not unfair. It was I who gathered you all here today._ _I know how you pathetic creatures need each other so."_

The false Lara grinned. _"So, come all of you,"_ said Demise. " _Come to me. Can you stop the spell I will unleash upon the city…?"_ He cackled. " _Can you stop me when a Hero and princess better than any of you could not? Why don't you come and find out?"_


	21. Shadow

**21 – Shadow**

"It was you," said Link, "wasn't it, my lady?"

Fog the purplish colour of twilight swirled slowly around Princess Zelda. She gave a slight smile.

"Yes," she replied.

Her eyes sparkled, making Link's heart surge with warmth. Even her slightest movement tended to have that effect. He'd given up trying to control it now.

"Here in the Ether, I was able to… _curtail_ Demise's power," Zelda explained in her soft, enunciated voice. "Now he will not be able to track any of you, or invade your minds."

Pinpricks of starlight, like glittering shards, shone from within the air in the Ghostly Ether. Link wondered how they even got there. They distracted the Hero, but only for a moment.

"I don't understand him," he said. "He could have ended us when he had the chance. Instead, he just left us a challenge and vanished along with the Shade."

"Pride," the princess replied. "I have learned that he was defeated once by our ancestors. He's blind to the reasons why. He feels we – you – should be easy prey, and he wants to prove it now."

"By playing games," said Link. "By giving us as many allies as possible."

"That's right," Princess Zelda confirmed. "Then he can prove to himself that his first defeat was a mere accident of fate."

Link settled into his thoughts for a quiet moment. "He mentioned an incarnation of his hatred."

"Ganon," the princess replied.

Surprise made Link stare. Zelda nodded in confirmation.

"That's why our aim is not to defeat Demise," she said. "There is a prophecy. Of the calamity of Ganon's return. Of a princess, and her chosen knight."

Her eyes met his for the briefest of moments before she went on. "Whether this is in our future or a branch from another, I am not sure. But our focus here is to contain Demise so that Hyrule can heal and grow again. It is not yet time for the cycle to break, no matter what the Demon King believes."

Link felt a cloak of weariness drape over his heart. "It never ends." He suppressed a sigh, then focussed. "Contain him how?"

"Break the physical link he has to the world," said Zelda. "Find the puppet that is the Calatian King." A curtain of sadness drew over her face. "And kill him."

Link waited, sensing there was more to it than that.

He was right.

"That is a task for your companions," the princess went on. "I've managed to bewitch Demise into believing that he can still track their every moment. He is not intending to use the spell until they draw close. So inform them, tell them that they have the element of surprise. They should use it wisely."

"And me, my lady?"

"You will come back to the Ether. Once Demise is severed from the physical world, I will draw him here, and we can seal him." She paused. "Until the cycle turns again. The fate of Hyrule rests with you."

Link grimaced. "When has it ever not…?"

Princess Zelda smiled sadly.

The Hero spoke again. "I don't think Colin and Zelda are ready for this."

"I know," said the princess in a firm, but kindly voice. "I will assist as much as I can, and not just to the two young ones."

The Hero sighed. "Is my time done, then?"

She smiled again. "Soon, my Hero," she said. "If we succeed. Go now, Link. Tell your friends what they need to know. Then return here to me."

* * *

Blurred sunlight glimmered off of the dark water of the river. Captain Kaltern, most of his face cloaked under a grey hood, stepped onto the bridge that led to the Royal City of Faron, one hand clutching the end of a rope.

Birds cawed from above, casting lithe shadows upon ramshackle buildings that lined the main track, and the pair of tall, stone watchtowers that marked the entrance to the city proper.

And there were people everywhere.

The stench in the air reminded Kaltern that these were the dregs of Calatian society, people that he would have never mingled with in his old life. Those who were not fortunate to live within the city walls made their home here, taking up every inch of space as they waited for a whisper of news from within, the opportunity – perhaps from a rich, noble family in need of a stablehand or a scullion – to be free from these slums.

Kaltern pushed his way through. Every time he saw a gap in the crowd, it would be filled within a heartbeat. It was a wonder the bridge didn't just collapse under the sheer weight of it all.

He felt a tug on the rope glanced back. A shuffling Rusl, head bowed, had his wrists bound by the other end of the rope. At long last, the leader of the Resistance was his prisoner.

 _All part of the plan._

"These people," Rusl whispered. "So many. I can't believe the King almost made me kill them all."

Kaltern felt a wince of irritation. He wasn't about to let the Hylian get away with that.

"Remember what he said," the captain replied in a low voice. "He didn't make you do anything."

A heated reply came instantly. "True," Rusl breathed. "But then you can't really blame us for hating your people, though, can you? We're too different, our race and yours."

Kaltern bristled. "How so?"

"It's not in our nature to invade and subjugate," Rusl declared. "And from what I've heard, _Shadow,_ you have more blood on your hands than me."

The captain pursed his lips. He hated that nickname. Rusl's boy and the Hylian woman Ashei had coined it for him, after they'd decided to discard with the childish 'Dark Link' epithet.

"Would you like a written apology?" Kaltern said in a sour voice.

"Leave it."

"Are you sure?" said the captain. "It would have been magnificently insincere."

Rusl rose to the bait. "Don't you care? All those lives ended?!"

"I…" Kaltern swallowed, then sighed inwardly. "I truly never thought about it. But I'm not going to blame the King for that. It's my…burden to bear alone."

Though most of Rusl's face was just as covered as Kaltern's – thanks to their hooded disguises – the captain sensed a change in the Hylian's attitude. When Rusl spoke again, it was in a broken voice.

"Oh, what does it matter?" he muttered. "Why do _I_ even care? My wife is dead. My daughter, too. All these years I've loved nothing but a phantom."

Captain Kaltern looked away, his thoughts drawn, as they ever were, to the fate of his own wife and child.

"Perhaps," he said, his voice thickening. "We're not so different after all, Hylian."

 _Shadow_ , he mused. _My very identity's been torn away._ _Will Layle and Mya even recognise me in this face…?_

As they made their slow path through the sea of people, Captain Kaltern spotted more dark hoods bobbing up and down throughout the crowd. The rest of the Resistance. Rusl's boy and Zelda were here somewhere, too, though clearly too short for him to spot.

He didn't like it. It still felt too open. The man called Link - the supposed _Hero_ , even though he wasn't yet joining them on this mission _-_ had assured him that Demise could no longer track them, though how the Hylian could possibly know, Kaltern couldn't quite tell.

He resisted the urge to shake his head. The captain sighed. All that mattered now was finding Layle and Mya. His eyes swept over to the Royal Palace, a tall, slender building set in the centre of the city itself that glittered with decorated tiles of thin metal.

That's where the King resided, all alone. There was a perimeter wall that was well guarded, and once through that, there was a giant iron door barring their way.

No one was simply granted an audience with the King, not even Captain Kaltern. Not unless they had an urgent reason for it. And the person who judged that was a City Judge who dwelled in a watchtower at the end of the bridge itself.

That's what they approached now as Kaltern and Rusl finally freed themselves from the crowd. The captain knocked on a wooden door with faded green paint. A sign hung from there, stating that there were to be 'no more appointments today.'

"Go away!" a voice shouted from inside. "Can't you people read?"

Captain Kaltern growled. "Is this how you respond to an officer of His Majesty's Royal Army?"

The sudden sound of hasty movements within gratified the captain more than he'd imagined it would. A metal bolt slid. The door opened a crack.

"Captain Kaltern…?" said the judge. "Is that you…?"

 _My face may be gone, but at least I still have my voice…_

Kaltern opened enough of his cloak to let his red crest show under the sunlight. "It's me," he said. "And I need to see the King. Now."

"I'm terribly sorry," said the judge. "His Majesty is indisposed today, I'm afraid," said the judge. "He is…unwell. And does not want to see anyone."

"He'll want to see me," said the captain, gesturing at his prisoner. "Or you _will_ be 'terribly sorry.'"

The judge's eyes shifted over to Rusl. "Who is this…?"

Kaltern reached up to pull back the Hylian's hood. " _This_ ," he said, "is the leader of the Resistance."

The judge's eyes widened. "I'll take you to His Majesty right away."

"Good," he replied. "Oh, and let's not send word ahead, shall we?" The captain forced a smile into his voice. "I want it to be a surprise."

The judge bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Of course."

"And get me a bow."

A frown creased the judge's brow. "A bow...?" he said, his voice shaky as he tried to suppress a disbelieving laugh. "Surely you're not expecting to be attacked, Captain? You'll be accompanied by a squadron, of course."

"You can't be too careful," said Kaltern. "This one's been stripped of his weapons, but the scum has friends. They'll try anything to get him back."

The judge hesitated for a moment, and then conceded with a sigh. "As you wish."

A bow he got, and a quiver of arrows as well. Captain Kaltern marched along with a phalanx of four Calatian soldiers, spears outstretched in front of them, and tugged a stumbling Rusl behind him. With a slight turn of his head, Kaltern spied hooded figures darting from shadow to shadow in the long, ascending street that led up to the palace. He felt slightly dismayed that the soldiers - his men, after all - hadn't noticed that the Resistance were following them.

The feeling deepened, though, as he considered what he was about to do. The disgust that he'd hidden deep inside began to surface again.

 _Maybe then it's a blessing to have had my identity stripped away. Maybe I should embrace being the Shadow._

The stone face of the perimeter wall loomed up ahead, guards standing to attention at its base. They hadn't noticed anything unusual, either. But, then again, this street was usually deserted, and no-one in their right mind would expect a direct attack here.

He was counting on that expectation.

Captain Kaltern cleared his throat, then held up his hand to signal the group to stop.

"Clear the area," he said.

The squadron's leader glanced at him in confusion. "Sir...?"

"I gave an order, soldier," said Kaltern. "Clear the area." He paused, then added, "You're not questioning me, are you?"

"But," said the leader, a slight stammer overcoming his voice. "I-I'm sure you understand th-that this is highly unusual."

"And this is a very important prisoner," the captain countered. "The less people who know he's here, the better. It'll only be until we're through to the other side."

"Sir," said the soldier, thinking it through. "Yes, sir." He turned to one of his men. "Go up ahead and notify the guards. Captain Kaltern's orders. I'll send you back when it's all clear."

It didn't take long for the guards to depart. The captain's trepidation grew. His heart thudded.

 _Become the Shadow..._

They reached the outer gate. There were only a pair of guards inside, and these were the ones who would raise the wooden opening and let them into the palace gardens. The captain's mouth dried. This would take split-second timing.

He watched the gate rattle upward, his every nerve tingling, and saw the soldiers pass through ahead. Kaltern followed -

And one of the guards stepped across him.

"Sir," he said, his tone apologetic. "You're going have to drop the hood, sir. I'm sure you understand."

Captain Kaltern waited a moment. "Of course."

They'd planned for this. This was the signal.

He reached up, letting go of the rope that held Rusl, and, with a flick of both wrists, brought his hood down with a quick tug.

The Calatians recoiled at the sight of his face - and Rusl struck, the binds around his wrists loosening as he drew his hidden short-sword and quickly thrusted it through the nearest guard. The man's scream died a gurgling death in his throat.

The soldiers reacted instantly, jabbing Rusl back with their spears as he pulled his blade free. Kaltern couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride at that.

He felt the _whoosh_ of people rushing past him, then heard the clang of metal against metal and the grunts of struggle - the rest of the Resistance had joined the battle.

Captain Kaltern stumbled back, paralysed with a sudden bout of indecision. It just didn't feel right. It wasn't just fighting his own people; he'd be fighting his own men, people he'd trained, laughed with and fought beside.

He took another step back. As did the Resistance. They were losing, he realised. The space in the opening was too small for a heated battle, and the soldiers knew the lay of the place better than the Hylians.

Perhaps, if he let the Resistance fall, he could still salvage his life. He'd find another way to rescue his family. After all, no one would even suspect -

"Come _on!_ " snarled Ashei as she swatted a spear aside to glare at him. Specks of blood had spattered her face. "Do something, yeah?!"

 _Shadow..._

Captain Kaltern burst into a small sprint, then leapt into the air, scooping his bow up with one hand, and pulling an arrow free to set to the string with the other.

Time suddenly slowed for everyone except the Shadow. He let fly with a single arrow that struck one of the five remaining Calatians and then, as the rest moved as though they were stuck in tar, he shot the others one by one in quick succession.

The Shadow landed, and time righted itself instantly. All five of the Calatians collapsed to the ground at the exact same moment, the feathered tail of an arrow jutting out from their chests.

The Resistance looked around in confusion. "What..." said Ashei, still panting from the fight, "just happened?"

Whatever it was, it had been exhilarating.

 _And shameful,_ thought Kaltern, his sense of self returning.

"Everyone inside," said Rusl. "We have no time for this. Bring the soldiers, too."

The captain followed Rusl, Ashei, Shad, Auru, Colin and Zelda as they the dragged the Calatian corpses into the garden beyond. Shad pulled a lever that sent the gate into a rumbling descent back to the ground.

"The guards will be back soon," said Captain Kaltern in a quiet voice. "We still have to get through that."

He pointed up ahead, past the swaying flowers of a dozen bright colours, to where the giant iron door marked the entrance to the Royal Palace.

"Easy," said Rusl's boy.

He unhooked a bladeless hilt from his belt, one that Kaltern knew had been gifted to him by Link. Black metal slid out, the sword's tip aimed directly at the iron door. A pale blue glow ribboned the blade - and then, the muscles in his arm straining, Colin pulled.

A hollow clang rang out, and the door shifted an inch. Colin grit his teeth and tugged harder.

"Come on, Colin," whispered Zelda. She watched him with clenched fists. "You can do this."

Metal began to squeal. The giant hinges scraped against the stone doorway like fingernails scraping a tablet. With an almighty yell, a red-faced Colin gave one last heave - and the door tore free and drifted up into the air.

"Out of the way, everyone," said Colin as the cords in his neck tensed.

They moved, and as they did so, the Hylian boy directed the trembling door up over their heads, metallic debris falling away to the ground. He then set it down gently in front of the wooden gate.

"There," breathed Colin. "That should keep your guards busy. Right, Shadow?"

Captain Kaltern gave him a glance with narrowed eyes, but deigned to reply.

"Come on," he said instead as he stared ahead at the gaping opening.

He took a step forward - then frowned. The air had suddenly turned chill. He looked at the others - they'd noticed it, too. The breeze picked up, whistling.

A fat raindrop spattered to the ground by Captain Kaltern's boot.

He looked up into the sky. Dark clouds began to swirl overhead.

He swallowed. "Storm's coming."


	22. The Final Sacrifice

**22 The Final Sacrifice**

It had started in the rain, Zelda realised, thinking back to her trek to her mother's tomb, and it looked like it would end that way, too.

She blinked through the steady curtain of rainwater to stare at the fallen Calatian soldiers. Sadness weighed down her heart, just as it had back then. For all the talk of a principle of kindness, it seemed the Noble Path didn't shy away from dealing out death when necessary.

Thunder rumbled overhead. Lightning tore through the air a moment later, striking something beyond the palace walls. Distant screams followed, and a thin tendril of black smoke curled into the sky.

"It's started," she said in a blank voice.

"Shad," said Rusl. "You told us you had a surprise for us when we got here."

Zelda heard the rustle of parchment, and turned to see Shad pull a scroll free from inside his tunic.

"Um," he said with a shy smile. "I managed to procure a plan of the palace."

"Good man." Rusl grinned, and gave Shad a hearty slap on the shoulder. "Where we headed…?"

"The Throne Room," said Captain Kaltern. "The King spends most of his time there. And you won't need those plans, Hylian. It's not hard to find."

Shad looked at the Calatian. "You're absolutely sure that he is alone in the entire building?" he asked in a voice nudged with doubt.

"Definitely," the captain replied.

Zelda felt her own twinge of doubt, too. So much of this plan was based on so much flimsy knowledge that they may as well be going in blind.

Captain Kaltern continued. "I always pressed him to have guards within as well. He said he didn't need them, that if it made me feel better, I could post my men outside the wall." He wiped rainwater from his scarlet eyes and his voice darkened. "Now I know why. A demon has no need for mere men."

"Well, then," said Shad. "Follow me, my friends."

As Zelda turned to do exactly that, her eyes met Colin's. He gave her a small nod of reassurance. She smiled in return.

"Auru," said Rusl. "Stand guard here. Just in case."

They stepped into the darkened opening of the palace. Zelda shivered, the cool air within tingling her wet clothes and skin. Her heart pounded painfully.

 _And no Link with us, either,_ she mused. _Stuck in his trance after he'd told us to leave him behind. That had caused a bit of an argument._

Their footsteps rang out as they made their way deeper into the dark. More thunder – muffled now – sounded from outside. A screeching wind beat against the outer palace walls.

" _Welcome."_

The party came to a sudden stop. Fear stabbed Zelda's heart. She took in long, deep breaths to steady herself.

 _So much for surprising him,_ she thought. _Then again, tearing off the front door can't have helped._

A circle of light appeared on the ground in front of them. A throne lay revealed there, holding up an immense blob of a Calatian with an undersized crown perched on top of his head.

The King grinned. The wind outside shrieked even louder.

Ashei gave a sudden yelp of pain. The woman spun, as though struck.

Zelda's eyes widened. Ashei _had_ been struck. Her brow bled from where a metal tile – the same sort that lined the entire face of the palace – had hit her.

A dark chuckle rose from the King as more tiles flew whistling towards them. One struck Zelda straight in the stomach, winding her, the sudden pain making her eyes water. A second knocked her clean to the floor.

Her shoulder cracked against the hard ground, and her head spun, throbbing. She heard the others crying out as well. The King's laugh deepened.

Zelda dropped both hands to her dagger. She tried to yank it free, but it stuck, and she hissed in frustration. She glanced up, saw Rusl swinging his sword uselessly in an attempt to deflect the attacks, then tried again, her mind screaming in fear – and this time her palms were too slick with sweat to catch a grip.

A loud clacking rang out. Zelda's breath caught. She looked up, saw the familiar blue glow of magnesis power, sharp in contrast to the surrounding darkness, sheathing a black blade, and watched as Colin swung, batting back the King's projectiles until, finally, the onslaught ceased.

Zelda slowly picked herself off of the floor. Colin stood ahead of her, tensed, black blade at the ready.

The King smiled again. " _Do you like what I've done to the décor…?"_

Faint light spilled down two walls of the chamber. Zelda's eyes widened. Pinned to the stone, stretched out like nothing more than tapestry, were the Shade. One hung from the wall to their left, the other on the wall opposite.

" _Have none of you anything to say…?"_ Demise gloated through the bloated form of the King. _"Not even you…Captain?"_

A pair of lights blazed into life in mid-air. Each one cradled a person – a woman, and a girl – unconscious, their arms and legs dangling.

"No…!" the captain cried, and Zelda knew instantly who the prisoners were.

" _No…?"_ said Demise.

A sword shot out from the darkness to their left. A second followed from the right. Captain Kaltern cried out again – and the weapons came to a sudden halt in mid-air, steel tips just inches away from their victims' throats.

Zelda bared her teeth and balled her fists. "Why are you doing this?!" she shouted, her voice echoing in the gloom. "They've done nothing!"

" _Why?"_ said Demise. " _Haven't I explained already? The Shade. These females here. It's all a little game."_ He chuckled. " _But, alas, for Captain Kaltern's family here, they're all out of turns."_

The tips of the two swords flashed. Captain Kaltern shouted in helpless rage –

And then suddenly everything vanished, leaving only a thick, glowing fog. Zelda spun around, eyes searching.

"Hello…?" she said.

Shapes formed in the swirling mist, dark shadows that slowly became fully realised a moment later.

"Colin," she said, her heart singing. "Captain."

Colin gasped. "Zelda!" He grinned in relief.

"What is this?" asked the captain. "Where are we? _Where's my family?_ "

It was Link's voice that replied.

"Welcome," he said. "To the Ghostly Ether."

They turned – and there stood Link, but like they'd never seen before. Fully armoured in bronze metal, the Hero of Time cut an imposing figure.

And he wasn't alone. Next to him a woman enclosed in emerald light floated, her hands clasped to her chest, eyes shut in concentration, and her face straining with effort.

"She's…" said Zelda.

"She's you," gasped Colin. "And she's beautiful."

"This," said Link, "is _my_ Princess Zelda." He looked at the younger girl. "From my time."

"I don't care," growled Captain Kaltern. "My wife and daughter are –"

"Safe," Link cut in. "For now. The princess has slowed down time in the physical world so that Demise's swords will take an age to reach them."

"That's not the same as stopping the swords," said Kaltern.

"Listen," said Link. "The princess has brought you all here. Demise, too. She can weaken him here. It would have been easier if we'd broken his physical connection to your world but –" he glanced at the princess in concern – "She decided that she had to act. And it's taking its toll."

Zelda saw the look in his eyes, heard the slight tremor in his voice. It was something she'd never seen from the Hero before.

 _He loves her. He loves the princess. 'My Princess Zelda,' he called her._

"Demise is here?" asked Colin.

The Hero of Time nodded, his face grim. "And he is mine to face."

"No…"

Link blinked in surprise. The word had come from the princess's lips. He turned to her with wide eyes.

"The…Chosen…" she gasped. "I…was wrong. Only…"

She said no more.

The Ghostly Ether shook. Demise's voice rolled through the fog. " _Are you really?"_ he said mockingly. " _The Chosen…?"_ He laughed, and the Ether shook again.

Captain Kaltern drew his sword. "Show yourself, demon," he said. "I will finish you alone."

Dark smoke poured out of the fog, spilling into the shape of a huge man in a dark, long robe. A blaze of flame burned atop his head, a match to his fiery eyes.

" _Here I am,"_ said Demise. " _My most loyal captain…"_

With a snarl, Captain Kaltern rushed in. Demise swung with a fist that the Calatian nimbly ducked. The Demon King dodged the captain's next strike, kicking him so hard that Kaltern hit the ground.

Demise swung again – but his gauntleted fist froze suddenly, trembling in mid-air. Cords of wavy blue light had wrapped themselves around his arm.

Zelda's heart leapt. _Colin!_

She turned to see her friend standing tall with his chest heaving, his eerie black sword spilling the magnesis energy straight at the demon.

A blur of bronze moved past the boy. Link leapt in –

And Demise roared, magical energy pulsing outward from his body to send the three men flying. Zelda gasped – when a jagged bolt of crackling jade energy shot past her and struck the demon. It froze, holding King Demise fast. His blazing eyes turned, a slight crease forming on his brow.

 _He's fighting it…_ Zelda realised.

She turned, following the length of the frozen bolt and saw that it had come from the princess. Zelda turned back to see the three swordsman drag themselves back to their feet, each wearing a determined face.

A vision of the future struck her then: the princess and the demon trapped for eternity in endless struggle while Link, Captain Kaltern and Colin hacked away helplessly with their swords in everlasting despair.

A thought needled into her mind: Kindness. The first – and only – principle of the Noble Path.

 _Link has his princess,_ she thought. _The captain his family. And Colin his Da. They're needed. I'm not. All I have –_ Determination surged through her every nerve – _is the chance to be a Hero!_

Zelda stepped into the emerald bolt of magic. She gasped, her hair standing on end. Power filled her to her very core, her body and soul illuminated. A magical storm enshrouded her, whistling like the wind.

Without even thinking about it, Zelda raised one hand and gestured. A large hole tore in the very fabric of the Ether. It leaked black light.

Demise slowly turned his head toward the new opening. Fear exploded all across his face.

" _No!"_ he gasped. " _I will not be trapped again!"_

That just increased Zelda's resolve. Her skin prickled, the crackle of magic boiling all around her. She raised her palms and _pushed._ Howling magic pooled around her hands. She heard Demise scream and curse and, with her teeth bared, she slowly began to stride forward.

Demise dug his heels in, but to no avail. Inch by painful inch, he was pushed back toward the portal. The magical wind wailed in Zelda's ears and scratched her skin. She heard a faint voice calling her name.

 _Colin…_

And for some reason tears streamed from her eyes. She pushed again, and the Demon King edged closer and closer to the dark hole. She didn't even know what lay beyond, but she felt certain that Demise would be trapped there. And so would she.

Forever.

Her legs shook as she pushed on. Her arms ached. And the tears…she couldn't stop the tears.

At last they were there. The dark hole loomed large behind the Demon. Blazing eyes looked down on her.

" _One day…"_ Demise breathed. _"In one world…I will have my victory. My hatred will become malice. And a calamity will befall you all…"_

Zelda balled up all of her strength, ready for one last shove –

When a hand snaked out of the fog to catch her wrist.

"Not today," said a voice. "My sweet."

Zelda raised her trembling head. Her eyes widened. She knew who it was without even having to ask.

"Mother…"

" _You!"_ spat Demise. " _I shamed you with the seeds of lust!"_

Tall and imperious with long, chestnut hair flowing down over her white and lavender gown, the Princess Zelda of the Twilight War glared at Demise. "The only seed you sowed, fiend," she said, "was the one for your own downfall. Now, keep silent!"

She gestured, and the demon's jaw snapped shut.

The elder Zelda turned to her daughter and smiled. "Long have we waited in this Ether," she said. "Let _us_ deal with this now."

"We…?" Zelda blinked. "Us…?"

She heard a low growl behind her. Zelda turned to see a grey-furred wolf, head bowed, and ready to charge.

"This," said her mother, "is the Twilight Hero."

The wolf leapt with a snarl. It crashed into the Demon King, and both tumbled into the dark hole, Demise's last, long muffled cry slowly fading as they both fell.

Zelda's mother then drifted over to the yawning opening herself, turning one last time to face her.

"Don't go," said Zelda, surprising herself. She'd never known her mother, but suddenly felt a burning need to find out. "What will happen to you? Both of you? You're sacrificing yourselves!"

Her mother smiled. "We will survive," she said. "We always do. In spirit, if not in the world." The darkness of the portal began to engulf the elder Zelda. "Go, my daughter. Heal Hyrule. Advise the new king."

Her mother held out her arms. Zelda ran straight into them, felt the warmth of her lingering embrace, the thudding of her spirit heart.

Her mother whispered into her ear. "Farewell…"

And then she was gone, swallowed by the darkness that itself shrunk into a pinprick of dark light in a blink of an eye.

Zelda floated in the fog of the Ghostly Ether, dazed, an aching emptiness overwhelming her. Her eyes were drawn to a swirl of light overhead.

 _Link…_

The Hero of Time, young now, and dashingly handsome, smiled down at her. A ball of light with fluttering wings whizzed around him. Zelda smiled back, and watched Link turn to his princess. The two of them- Hero and Princess - wrapped themselves around the other in a long embrace as sparkling light surrounded them.

Zelda blacked out.

* * *

She awoke to the sound of birds singing, and to the sight of Colin framed in sunlight as he smiled down at her.

"You're awake!" he said. "Great!"

Zelda slowly sat up, then looked around. They were in a clearing. Sunlight flitted in through the gaps between tall trees.

"This is where we met Link," she said. "Where he revealed himself. How'd we get here?"

Colin shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I thought you might have had something to do with it. After all, you did get rid of the King all by yourself."

Zelda looked down at her hands. The tips of her fingers still glowed with emerald magic. "It…wasn't just me."

"Well," said Colin, reaching up to scratch his head. "You can tell me all about it. Are you ready?"

Zelda stood up, then looked at him, blinking. "Ready…?" she said. "For what?"

"Um." Colin cast a sheepish glance away. "I…thought maybe…we could go adventuring." He ran a hand through his blond hair. "Like together…?" He quickly cleared his throat. "That is…if you're not wanting to be a princess again. I mean, if you are, then I can help you –

Zelda's laugh cut him off. "Be a princess?" she said. "Sounds boring. Adventuring sounds lots more fun."

Colin grinned. "Great!"

Her heart still felt sore, but Zelda was glad for Colin's presence. She took a slow look around. "What happened to Captain Kaltern…?"

Colin shrugged. "I'd rather not have the Shadow tag along with us," he said. "Where's Link, anyway…?"

"He…" Zelda said in a soft voice. "Won't be coming back."

"It's just us, then?"

Zelda nodded. "Just us," she confirmed. "You're the Hero now."

He smiled. "So are you."

A thought came to Zelda. "What about the Resistance…?" she asked. "Don't you want to find your Da…?"

Colin shrugged again. "I'm sure we'll run into them," he said. "They'd have escaped the palace. They're good at that sort of thing." He gave a contented sigh. "So. Where to…?"

Zelda gazed off into the distance. "Kakariko, eventually. But first, back to the Royal City…"

"Really?" said Colin. "Why?"

Zelda smiled. "I hear they're about to crown a new king…"

* * *

The two swords clattered to the ground. Captain Kaltern sucked in a long, wheezing breath. He opened his eyes – and his eyes met Layle's. His heart leapt so hard, he thought it would burst.

"Rinku…?" she said, blinking, as she sat up.

"Layle..." he gasped.

Kaltern ran to her, then slid to his knees and enveloped her in his arms. "You're safe…" he said, holding her tightly. He took another deep breath to savour her scent. "You're alive." He cupped her face in his hands, then kissed her.

When their lips parted, Layle looked up at him in confusion. "Rynku…" she said, raising a tentative hand to his face. "What happened to your eyes…?"

"My eyes…?" he said. "What about my face…?"

She frowned. "What _about_ your face…?"

"Isn't it…different?"

A new, younger voice replied. "Silly daddy!" said Mya. "You look just the same!"

Kaltern grinned. "Kitten!"

She ran into his outstretched arms, and Captain Kaltern embraced them both, sweet relief singing in his grateful heart. He drank in their warmth, eyes closed and brimming with tears.

"But they are funny," said Mya. "Your eyes. They're all _red._ "

"Are they now…?" he said softly as he disentangled himself. "Scared…?"

"No!" the little girl protested. " _Silly,_ I said."

He laughed, then caught his wife's gaze. _I'll explain later,_ he mouthed.

The sound of running footsteps made the captain turn around. He rose to his feet as a troop of Calatian soldiers, armour and weapons tinkling with their every step, met them.

"Captain Kaltern!" said the lead soldier. "What happened? We saw the bodies outside. Where's the King…?"

 _They don't know,_ he realised. _They don't know who was responsible…_

Another thought came to him as well.

"The storm," he said. "Tell me about the storm."

The soldier blinked in confusion. "It…passed," he said. "It was a little rough. A few stray bolts of lightning caused some damage. But…nothing out of the ordinary."

Kaltern's shoulders sagged in relief. _But that's not the end of it, is it...?_

"I'd like you to take some of your men," he said, addressing the soldier. "And search this entire palace for a scroll."

"A scroll…?"

"Yes," he replied. "There should only be the one. Bring it to me. Make sure none of them read it."

"Yes, sir."

He didn't have to say anything more. He trusted his men. Kaltern's eyes swept the dark chamber. The Resistance were gone. Zelda, too. Deep in his heart, he wished them well.

 _So long as they don't decide to oppose me, that is…_

"Captain," the soldier spoke again in an insistent voice. "Sir. Where is the King…?"

Captain Kaltern turned to look at the empty throne. He walked towards it, spying, at its base, the old king's crown lying on its side. He scooped it up off of the ground with one hand, then drew his sword with the other. The metallic sigh rang out loudly in the large chamber.

He turned to face the soldiers. They were all staring at him – Layla, Mya and all his men. His eyes lingered on each one of them in turn.

 _Who,_ he thought, _can I truly trust to be in charge…?_

Rynku Kaltern, the Hero's Shadow, smiled. "The king…" he said softly as he slowly sat himself down on the throne, "…is right here."

* * *

 **A/N: And that's that! Just a relatively short story to tide things over until Breath of the Wild is released. Hope you all enjoyed it (though it seems to be the least popular one I've done).**

 **Now to see what sort of fanfic gems we can pluck from BotW…**

 **Till then!**

 **Split.**


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